


The Summer Cabin

by just_a_hungry_author



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Amusement Parks, Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Awkward Kageyama Tobio, Beach Volleyball, Comfort/Angst, Crying, Crying Kozume Kenma, Day At The Beach, Domestic Fluff, Fights, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Humor, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Hinata Shouyou & Kageyama Tobio Friendship, Hinata Shouyou & Kozume Kenma Friendship, Hinata Shouyou is Sunshine, Hurt Kozume Kenma, KageHina - Freeform, Kageyama Tobio is Bad at Feelings, Kozume Kenma & Kuroo Tetsurou Friendship, Kozume Kenma is a Good Friend, Kozume Kenma-centric, KuroKen - Freeform, KuroKen Week 2020, Kuroken Fight, Kuroo Tetsurou is a Good Friend, Literal Sleeping Together, Nishinoya Yuu & Tanaka Ryuunosuke are Bros, Protective Hinata Shouyou, Protective Kageyama Tobio, Protective Kuroo Tetsurou, Protective Sawamura Daichi, Protective Sugawara Koushi, Rain, Rainy Day Angst, Rainy Days, Road Trip, Sharing Rooms, Sleepy Boys, Sleepy Cuddles, Sleepy Kozume Kenma, Social Anxiety, Summer, Summer Vacation, Tanaka Ryuunosuke is a Good Friend, Team Dad Sawamura Daichi, Team Mom Sugawara Koushi, Team Parents Sawamura Daichi/Sugawara Koushi, Thunderstorms, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, argument, daisuga - Freeform, im sorry, its not slash, kenhina - Freeform, kind of, rainy day fluff, water parks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-03
Updated: 2020-08-30
Packaged: 2021-03-04 20:27:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 21,911
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25042387
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/just_a_hungry_author/pseuds/just_a_hungry_author
Summary: "Anyway, you gotta get out of bed! We'll be there to get you soon!"Kenma paused, opening his eyes. "What?""We're coming to get you!""Who's we?""That's not important. Get out of bed! We'll be there in half an hour!"When Hinata picks Kenma up for an inter-team week-long End-of-Year Celebratory vacation, things get a bit... dramatic.Chapters and chapters of angst and fluff that deal with everyone’s emotions as the year comes to a close.
Relationships: Hinata Shouyou & Kageyama Tobio, Hinata Shouyou & Kozume Kenma, Kozume Kenma & Kuroo Tetsurou, Sawamura Daichi & Sugawara Koushi
Comments: 42
Kudos: 121





	1. Driving Off

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so so much for reading! Soooooo this is gonna be dramatic as hell, and it's also a combination of some other ideas I've had for the summer. It's kind of inspired by a fic I read a longggg time ago called Truth or Dare. Basically it's gonna be about everyone's feelings after the school year, with a lottttt of fluff mixed in. Let us begin :)
> 
> DISCLAIMER: I haven’t read the Haikyuu manga, so I only know up to where we are in the anime. I don’t know how these characters actually reacted to the end of the year, this is just my take on how they would.

Summer was a conflicting time for Kenma Kozume.

On the one hand, he liked not having to go to school. 

There were no classes, no reasons to go out and interact with people, and no sports. 

On the other hand, he could only play video games by himself for so long. 

Things tended to get lonely, even by an introvert's standards. 

And now that Kuroo was leaving for college soon, he was dreading the upcoming school year. 

Sometimes he wished the summer would never end. 

Kenma groaned as his phone started ringing _again_. 

This would be the what, sixth time he ignored it? Seventh?

He'd lost count after the third time he'd silenced it and gone back to sleep. 

Every time he'd turned it off without checking the caller ID, but then it would ring again a few minutes later. 

Deciding to finally give in because it was way too early for his phone to keep ringing, he answered the call without opening his eyes and brought the phone to his ear. 

"What?" 

"KENMAAAAAA!" 

Kenma grimaced and pulled the phone away. 

When the noise subsided, he reluctantly put the phone back to his ear. 

"Shouyou, it's too early in the morning for you to be screaming." 

"It's almost ten. That's not early at all. I don't think time zones are different in Tokyo right?" 

"Ten _is_ too early." 

"Anyway, you gotta get out of bed! We'll be there to get you soon!" 

Kenma paused, opening his eyes. "What?" 

"We're coming to get you!" 

"Who's we?" 

"That's not important. Get out of bed! We'll be there in half an hour!" 

"What are you getting me for?" 

"It's a surprise! Gotta go!" 

"Wait, Shouyou-"

With that the call ended, leaving Kenma more confused and annoyed than when the phone had been interrupting his sleep. 

Despite the cryptic phone call he'd just had, Kenma wasn't expecting the doorbell to ring ten minutes later. 

He'd been in the middle of brushing his teeth when it rang- it'd taken him an extra eight minutes just to build up the courage to get out of bed.

When the bell rang it startled him slightly, and he quickly rinsed the toothpaste out of his mouth and made his way to the front door. 

It wasn't until he was opening the door that he realized he was still in pajamas and his hair was a mess. 

He was frantically running his fingers through his hair in an attempt to fix it when he actually looked up to see who was standing there. 

When he noticed who it was he immediately stopped worrying about his appearance. 

"Kuroo? What are you doing here?" 

The former team captain was dressed in red shorts and a black t-shirt, and he was smiling down at Kenma. 

"Thanks for the warm welcome." He started, stepping inside. "Nice outfit by the way, love what you've done with your hair." 

Kenma glared at Kuroo, his hair almost resembling the older's. 

He gestured for Kuroo to follow him and started back towards his room. 

"Why are you here?" He asked, pulling his shirt off. "I was expecting Shouyou." 

Kenma tossed his shirt into the hamper and started searching his dresser for a new one.

"Well," Kuroo started, "I figured you'd want a little context before everyone showed up." 

Kenma paused. "Everyone?" 

"Yeah, um-"

Kenma turned and looked Kuroo up and down again. 

He'd seen those red shorts before, but not while they were out in the city. 

Kenma hadn't recognized it at first because he'd become so used to seeing Kuroo in a similar outfit for practices, but he wasn't wearing athletic shorts. 

That... that was Kuroo's bathing suit. 

Kenma narrowed his eyes. "What am I being dragged into?" 

"Listen, Hinata said not to tell you but I didn't want you to be overwhelmed." 

"Kuroo, what am I being dragged into?" 

Kuroo rubbed the back of his neck. "Uh.... a trip?" 

"A trip to where?"

"Look, the ginger will kill me if I tell you everything." 

"Tell me or I'm not going." 

"Kenma-"

Kenma crossed his arms and glared at Kuroo, the shirt he'd been previously searching for long forgotten. 

"Okay, okay." Kuroo started. "We're taking a little vacation to celebrate the end of the year, that's all." 

"Vacation?" Kenma started. "No. Not happening." 

"Look, it's just for a little while, and I already cleared it with your parents. It's so we can all spend some time together before school starts back up again."

"Who's we?" 

"From Nekoma, you, me, Yamamoto, and Lev, from Karasuno, Hinata, Kageyama, that guy who looks like Yamamoto, Suga, Daichi, Nishinoya..." 

Kenma uncrossed his arms, relatively okay with that group of people. 

At least he'd have Kuroo and Shouyou to keep him sane. 

"Where are we going?" 

"I really can't tell you." Kuroo replied. "But I'll tell you that you should probably put a bathing suit on, and you'll need a lot of clothes. I'll let you know if I think you have enough." 

Kenma frowned. "Where's your stuff then?" 

"I dropped my bag off to Yamamoto last night."

Kenma sighed but pulled on a white shirt, then moved to the bathroom with his swimming trunks, which were dark blue. 

"Not that I want more people to join us, but why only ten of us?" He called through the door. 

"Everyone else was busy!" Kuroo called back, sitting down on Kenma's bed. "Either that or they didn't want to go." 

Kenma opened the bathroom door, now changed into his bathing suit. " _I_ don't want to go." 

"Well you don't have a choice." Kuroo replied with a smile. "We're going out for breakfast as soon as everyone gets here to pick you up." 

The blonde sighed. 

"It'll be fun," Kuroo said. "I promise."

"Can you at least tell me how long we're leaving for?" 

"Well..." 

"A WHOLE WEEK?" 

"Surprise!" Hinata exclaimed with a grin. "Are you excited?" 

"Shouyou-" Kenma started.

"It's gonna be super fun, I swear!" 

"Where exactly are we going?"

"That's still a secret, but I promise you'll like it. Go get your stuff! Everyone's waiting in the car." 

Kenma sighed. 

There was no way he was getting out of this. 

He trudged back to his room and grabbed his overnight bag, as well as his backpack that currently held his wide assortment of video games, headphones, and chargers. 

When he returned to the living room, Kuroo and Hinata led him outside to find a large blue van parked in front of his house. 

Oh, he really was not getting out of this.

"Alright, again, before we go," Daichi said, glancing in the rearview mirror, "Does anyone need anything?" 

A chorus of responses in the negative echoed throughout the students in the van.

Daichi smiled. "Well okay then. Let's get this road trip started!"

As they started on the road, Hinata went on to explain to Kenma how he'd come up with the idea for the trip.

"It took a lot of planning and research." He started. "We all aren't very organized, but I finally figured it all out with some help from Kageyama." 

The aforementioned teen shot a peace sign their way before going back to scrolling through his phone.

"We all had to take some shifts from Ukai's store and get some advances in allowances," Hinata continued, "But it only took us like a week to get the money." 

Kenma glanced around at the van they were in. 

It had three rows in addition to the driver's and passenger's seats.

Up front were Daichi and Suga, who were going to be switching off driving throughout the trip. 

Seated in the first row was Tanaka, Nishinoya, and Yamamoto.

Behind them in the second row were Kuroo, Kenma, and Hinata. 

Finally in the very back were Kageyama and Lev, a gap between the two of them. 

Kenma frowned. 

The van was big, and it probably cost a lot to rent, especially if they were keeping it for two weeks. 

"Shouyou, you should have told me." Kenma started. "I could've helped pay-"

"Don't worry about it." Hinata interrupted. "Everything is paid for already. Besides, this trip was a surprise for you. It wouldn't be fair to make you pay for your surprise."

"But-"

"Just go with it Kenma." Kuroo said. "Try and enjoy yourself."

It started off as a pretty average drive. 

Daichi and Suga were talking about their college plans up front. 

Lev and Kuroo had each fallen asleep against the window they were sitting next to.

Kageyama, Hinata, Noya, Tanaka, Yamamoto, and Kenma had all started playing videogames against each other.

They were an hour in when they hit their first snag. 

The round of the game the middle-seated teens were playing had just ended. 

"You totally cheated, Kageyama!" Hinata started. 

"I did not! It's not my fault you blew yourself up!" 

"Calm down, Hinata." Tanaka said. "It was my color-bomb that won us the game, stop complaining." 

"What's that supposed to mean?" Hinata started, shifting his argument to the second-year. "I pulled my own weight!" 

Noya snickered at the exchange before turning around to face the front of the car. 

"Hey Daichi?" He started. 

Daichi didn't take his eyes off the road. "What's up, Noya?" 

"I have to use the bathroom." 

Daichi groaned, ignoring how much what he was about to say next made him sound like a dad. 

"Didn't you go before we left?" 

Suga put a hand over his mouth, stifling laughter and ignoring the glare that Daichi was sending his way. 

"Yes." Noya said, a hint of attitude in his voice. "But I'm a very well hydrated volleyball player. I have to go again." 

Hinata looked up from the console in his hands. "I kind of have to go too."

Suga turned around to face the back. "We'll stop soon guys, alright?" 

"Says you." Daichi joked. "You're not the one driving." 

"There's ten of us." Suga replied. "We knew we couldn't avoid making stops along the way." 

"I'd hoped we'd get a little further into the drive." 

"I don't think it's fair to set any expectations on this group of people. We're too chaotic." 

Kenma wasn't very shocked when they finally arrived at their destination an hour later.

He recalled Hinata mentioning wanting to go in one of their conversations a while ago, back in the winter when it had been cold out. 

It made perfect sense. 

Now if only Kenma didn't hate the beach.


	2. The Beach Arc

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The volleyball kids are spending their first day of vacation at the beach! What an adventure this will be.

Everyone climbed out of the van and started grabbing their beach-bags from the trunk. 

Kenma initially had been worried- he wasn't prepared for the beach, he didn't have anything except for his swimming trunks.

Before he'd even had time to start panicking about how he didn't have a towel, Kuroo was thrusting a bag into his hands. 

"There's a towel in there for you, and sunglasses if you want them." The older said. "There should also be a portable charger in there, but if you can't find it let me know so I can rip Yamamoto's head off his shoulders." 

Kenma smirked. "Thanks." 

It was then that Hinata came bouncing over. 

"Are you surprised?" He asked gleefully. 

Kenma allowed his smirk to form into a smile. 

He couldn't help it, the redhead had an infectious attitude. 

"Yeah," Kenma said. "I haven't been to the beach in a long time." 

It wasn't _technically_ a lie. 

He hadn't been to the beach since he was seven, where his parents had forced him to go out in the water and talk to other kids. 

He managed to sneak his game from his bag and play it under the cover of some large rocks that were nearby. 

He couldn't swim back then- he'd learn the following summer after he met Kuroo- and had almost drowned a couple times. 

It wasn't exactly the picture perfect family vacation.

"This beach is super fun!" Hinata continued. "There's an area of the water where the fish don't like to go because of the people, so we don't have to worry about stepping on anything."

Kenma hummed in response. 

Well, that was one problem fixed. 

He hated the feeling of the fish swimming past his legs, and the thought of stepping on and accidentally killing them was even worse. 

Had he told Hinata that before? He couldn't remember. 

"And the mountains are super fun to climb, and they rent out canoes and paddle boats and stuff!" 

"Don't forget the most important part Hinata." Tanaka said, confidently walking over with his hands on his hips. "The lifeguards." 

Hinata frowned. "What? I mean yeah, there's lifeguards, but that's not the fun part." 

"You don't think big enough Hinata!" Nishinoya started, seeming to materialize behind Tanaka. 

"What?"

It was then that Yamamoto joined them. "The _female_ lifeguards, shrimpy. The _female_ lifeguards." 

Kenma couldn't help but roll his eyes. 

Suddenly Daichi appeared behind the three of them, a threatening look on his face. "If any of you harass the lifeguards, I _will_ kill you."

The three teens turned, all in various states of offendedness. 

Tanaka stood in between Yamamoto and Nishinoya, his arms around their shoulders. "Excuse me? We _only_ drink Respect Women Juice."

"Yeah, Daichi," Noya said. "Didn't you learn about consent? No means no." 

Daichi raised an eyebrow. "Unless it's Kiyoko." 

"Kiyoko is different." Tanaka replied. "Every slap on the face is just one more memory for us to look back on when we're married." 

Kenma glanced at Hinata. "Your friends are weird." 

The teens found a suitable spot to set up their towels and umbrellas, and after applying generous amounts of sunscreen, ripped their shirts off and raced towards the water. 

Kenma was sort of dragged along, but he allowed it to happen. 

He knew as soon as they'd arrived that Hinata was going to force him into the ocean at one point or another, so going along with it just saved time in the long run. 

It was still pretty early in the day, so the beach wasn't very crowded.

The rowdy teens dove into the water and eventually sort of claimed an area of it for themselves. 

Not that they were actively discouraging any strangers from coming near them, but nobody really wanted to try and break through their explosive energy. 

It only took about ten minutes for Nishinoya to convince Tanaka to let him stand on the taller's shoulders and do flips into the deeper water. 

After a while of swimming around, Hinata managed to persuade Kageyama, Kuroo, and Kenma to play a game of Chicken. 

Kenma and Hinata were the ones fighting, each of the shorter teens settling themselves on Kuroo and Kageyama's shoulders respectively.

The first round ended fairly quick- Hinata had pushed Kenma off of Kuroo's shoulders only a few seconds after calling 'go'. 

Hinata and Kageyama whooped in victory while Kuroo helped Kenma stand up. "You okay?" 

Kenma coughed but nodded. "Let's go again." 

Kuroo smirked and bent down so Kenma could get back on his shoulders. "Alright, let's do this." 

The second round ended with Hinata sputtering, he and Kageyama having fallen backwards into the water. 

"That's one to one." Kenma said with a smile. 

"No fair!" Hinata argued. 

"Yeah," Kageyama started, "I tripped on a rock." 

"Sure, you did." Kuroo replied. "Do you make excuses like that when you lose in volleyball too?" 

"Hinata, get on!" Kageyama growled, lowering himself into the water. 

They were caught and reprimanded by the lifeguard during the third round, but not before Kenma got his hands on Hinata's chest and pushed him off. 

"Aw, come on!" Hinata complained when he resurfaced. "I need more practice!" 

Kuroo turned his head in time to see a laugh- a real, genuine laugh- come out of Kenma. 

"Maybe you should stick to volleyball." Kenma said. 

Hinata pouted. "Whatever. I'll win next time." 

They'd all been in the water for about an hour and a half when more people started to arrive at the beach. 

It was mostly just families with young kids, but that didn't stop Kenma from feeling uncomfortable. 

If only anxiety could understand that there were times where he _should_ feel threatened, and times that he shouldn't. 

Kenma paddled over to Kuroo, where he was helping Lev do an underwater handstand by holding his legs up.

"Hey, I'm gonna get out." 

"Okay, I'll join you in a little bit." 

The blonde swam up to the shore and got out of the water, shivering slightly as the breeze started to dry him off. 

He walked past the groups of families and up to the area of the sand that he and his friends had taken over. 

Their ten towels and all the umbrellas took up a large portion of the sand, so they had quite a cushion of open space around them. 

Spotting his towel, he grabbed it and wrapped it around himself before sitting down and digging through his bag for his game. 

He had only played for a few minutes before his eyes started slipping shut and he felt his head start dipping towards his chest. 

He paused the game with a sigh and put the console back in his bag. 

He contemplated laying down with his head in the sand, but realized that it probably wasn't the best of his options before his eyes landed on Kuroo's towel. 

Glancing out towards the water, he could see the older teen was in the middle of a splash-fight with Yamamoto, Hinata, and Lev. 

Kenma figured that he'd be out in the water for another half hour at least, which gave him just enough time for a twenty minute nap before Kuroo would need his towel. 

With that reasoning in mind Kenma moved to lay down on Kuroo's towel. 

He could feel the heat of the sand through the fabric, and it was keeping him pleasantly warm and cozy. 

"Sorry Kuroo," Kenma mumbled aloud. "But it's for the greater good." 

Kenma had been right, it was another thirty minutes before Kuroo came up onto the beach. 

Hinata had started complaining of hunger and Noya joined along with him, so the group of teens had all exited the water in search of lunch. 

As everyone made their way to their stuff and started grabbing towels, Kuroo couldn't help but smile as his eyes landed on his towel. 

On top of it was Kenma, curled up on his side and sleeping peacefully.

"It looks like your towel's been taken over by a stray cat." Daichi said with a smirk, his own towel wrapped around his shoulders. 

"Well wake him up!" Hinata exclaimed, butting into the conversation. "I'm starving!" 

Suga lightly slapped Hinata upside the head. "Don't be rude, Hinata!" 

Kuroo chuckled. "Nah, it's fine. Kenma needs to eat and I need my towel. He was getting up either way." 

He bent down next to the sleeping setter and carefully brushed his hair out of his face. 

The slight movement was enough to wake the younger, who lazily blinked at him. 

"Hey sleepyhead," Kuroo greeted. "Come on, time for lunch." 

Kenma sat up with a yawn and allowed Kuroo to take the towel from underneath him. 

"Have a good nap?" Kuroo asked. 

Kenma nodded. "-s warm." 

He grabbed his shirt and put it on, a pleasant heat spreading across his torso as he donned the sun-warmed fabric. 

"Come on, Kenma!" Hinata exclaimed. "Lunch time!" 

Kenma chuckled. "Okay, okay. I'm up." 

They were walking back to the surf after lunch when they spotted it. 

"I've been set up." Kenma started. "There's no way this is a coincidence." 

"Kenma, I swear I didn't know this was here." Hinata said. "But I'm really, really happy it is." 

"Guys, it's destiny!" Nishinoya exclaimed. "We _have_ to play!" 

"But none of us even have a-"

Hinata smirked. "Get real, Daichi. I always have a volleyball."

They split into two teams. 

The obvious thing to do would be split into Karasuno versus Nekoma, but there were six Karasuno players and only four from Nekoma. 

So, rather than just have one of the Karasuno players temporarily join Nekoma, the teens decided to make things a little more interesting. 

Daichi and Kuroo stood next to each other, each observing the line of volleyball players in front of them. 

"Hmm..." Kuroo stuck his tongue out and started tapping his finger against his chin. "My first choice is..." 

"Come on Kuroo," Yamamoto groaned. "We all know you're gonna pick Kenma, so just pick him already."

Kuroo put his hands down. "Fine. Kenma." 

Daichi then made his pick, Suga. 

"Guys!" Hinata whined. "It's not gonna be fun if you just pick people from your own teams!" 

"Okay," Kuroo replied. "I'll take you then, Carrot-Top." 

Hinata smiled. "See, now we're changing things up!" 

They spent another minute deciding teams. 

Daichi's team consisted of Suga, Lev, Yamamoto, and Tanaka. 

Kuroo had picked Kenma, Hinata, Nishinoya, and Kageyama. 

Because his team had two setters, they decided that Kenma would set and Kageyama would temporarily be a spiker. 

"Alright," Hinata started. "Let's shake hands!" 

They all ended up taking their shirts off to avoid sweating through them. 

They started with a particularly good serve from Daichi, but Nishinoya picked it up with no trouble. 

"Kenma!" The libero called. 

Kenma moved into position and set it to the left, where Hinata was approaching. 

Hinata's spike was blocked by Lev, but luckily Nishinoya was able to save it. 

Kenma set the ball to Kageyama this time, who misjudged how different playing on sand was when compared to a gym floor. 

He didn't have as much grip when he made his jump and ended up short, missing the ball by just the tip of his finger. 

"That's one to us!" Tanaka shouted. 

"You losing your touch Kageyama?" Hinata teased. 

"Yeah, whatever." Kageyama mumbled, jogging off to get the ball. "It's different playing on sand." 

The ball had rolled up next to a group of teenage girls. 

One of them, who had brown hair and brown eyes, had picked it up. 

"Hey," She started, "I think you dropped your-"

The girl stopped as she lay eyes on Kageyama. 

The six-foot-tall muscular setter was jogging towards her with no shirt on, his hair gracefully bouncing in the wind.

"Hey," Kageyama said. "Sorry about that." 

"N-no, it's fine!" The girl squeaked. "Here!" 

She held out the ball. 

"Thanks." Kageyama replied. 

As soon as he turned around, the girl ran up to her group of friends. "Guys, you will not believe what just happened." 

"What's up?" 

"I just ran into the _cutest_ guy! Well... more like he ran into me..." 

One of the girls looked over to where our main group of teens was playing volleyball. 

"Woah, they're all... beautiful!" 

"That one with the dyed hair is stunning." Another girl piped up. 

"What about that tall silver-haired one? He's absolutely adorable." 

Needless to say, the Karasuno and Nekoma boys had spent the rest of their playtime with a group of rather... _enthusiastic_ viewers. 

After their volleyball game, the group started to split up. 

Lev headed back to the water to swim, while Tanaka and Nishinoya moved to another part of the beach to go fishing (after hitting on some of the girls who'd been watching their game, of course). 

Kageyama decided to mimic Kenma's earlier actions and take a nap, so he stretched out on his towel and closed his eyes. 

Daichi and Suga had taken out one of the canoes, so they were out in the open water. 

Hinata was burying Yamamoto in the sand, and Kuroo had convinced Kenma to join him on a hike up the mountains on the right side of the beach. 

The hike wasn't very taxing physically, though that may be because Kenma and Kuroo were used to tough volleyball workouts. 

Their trek up the mountain was more of a leisurely walk. 

"Are you having fun?" Kuroo asked. "Glad you joined us on this vacation?" 

Kenma kicked a small rock out of his way and towards the trees that were to the right of the path. "Yeah, I guess so."

"Why just guess?" 

"Well I still don't know how these next couple days will go." 

"How about just based off of today then?" 

Kenma shrugged. "Yeah, I'd say I'm having fun." 

Kuroo stopped, bending down in front of a patch of nearby flowers. "That's good. I'm really glad you decided to come. Honestly, I didn't think you'd give in." 

Kenma looked up to see that Kuroo's back was to him. "Huh?" 

"Well..." Kuroo started idly fiddling with one of the flowers. "I was worried you really wouldn't come. We don't have that much time to spend together now." 

Kenma's breath hitched. 

He didn't want to start talking about this. It wouldn't end well for either of them. 

"Kuroo..." 

The older teen stood from his bent over position and walked over to one of the large, flat rocks that overlooked the edge of the mountain.

He avoided meeting Kenma's eye as he sat down on top of it and pulled his knees to his chest.

"I'm leaving for college soon." He started. "We only have these next few months before I move away. And of course I'll come visit and everything, but it won't be the same. We won't be on the same team anymore, we won't walk to school together, we won't..." 

Kuroo took a breath. "We just won't get to hang out like we always do." 

Kenma walked up to the rock Kuroo was sitting on, ignoring the burning in his eyes that told him the tears were about to start pouring. 

He got up onto the rock and sat down next to Kuroo, putting his head on the older's shoulder. 

Kuroo sighed. "I'm gonna miss you, Kenma." 

"I'll miss you too." 

Kenma tried to swallow down the lump in his throat. "It'll be so different without you."

Kuroo sniffed, clearly trying not to start crying himself. "You'll come see my games at college, right?" 

"Of course." 

"Not that the setter will be anywhere near as good as you..." 

"How can you say that?" Kenma asked, lifting his head. "You don't even know who the setter will be." 

Kuroo turned and finally looked at Kenma. 

His eyes were also glistening with tears, and at the moment they were focused on the side of the setter's head. 

Kuroo opened his hand to reveal he had picked a red flower from the patch. 

He lifted his hand, and using nimble fingers, wove the flower that he'd picked into Kenma's hair. "No one will ever be as good as you, Kenma." 

Down in the canoe, Daichi and Suga were having a similar conversation. 

Or... Suga was trying to.

"Hey Daichi," The vice-captain started. "Do you think things will be different once we go to college?" 

Daichi turned, stopping rowing for the moment.

"Hmm? What do you mean?" 

Suga shifted his gaze down to his shoes. "Like, do you think we'll all still be friends and stuff?" 

Daichi smiled. "Of course we will." 

"Even with the first years?" 

"Sure, why wouldn't we be?" 

Suga frowned. 

Clearly Daichi couldn't see what he was trying to get at. 

And now that he'd started to bring it up, he was realizing he didn't really want to have this conversation right now.

"Yeah." He started, "Yeah, you're right." 

Daichi frowned. 

"Let's head back to shore." He suggested. "I think our hour is almost up." 

Back on the mountain, Kuroo and Kenma were still sitting on the rock, looking out to the water. 

"I hope I get into the same college that you're going to." 

"Kenma, you can't focus your future on following me." 

"Who's to say it's about following you?" Kenma started. "Maybe I'm just trying to get a proper education." 

"You should keep your options open then. Game Design is a tough field to get into." 

"I don't think it'll be that hard." 

Kuroo frowned but stood, heading off of the path. 

"Where are you going?" Kenma asked, twisting around. 

"To water a tree." 

Kenma rolled his eyes. "Leave it to you to ruin the moment." 

"Listen, the Karasuno libero wasn't wrong when he said we were all very well hydrated." Kuroo replied with a smile. "We can head back down to the beach after." 

"Okay, I have to get back to my game anyway." 

Right as Kuroo and Kenma made it back to the shore, Hinata ran up to them.

"Hey guys! We're gonna go up to the dock and get ice cream!"

"Sounds good." Kuroo said. 

They were joined by the rest of the group, and soon the teens were all walking up to the boardwalk. 

The ice cream kiosk had no line, so there was no time wasted in placing their orders. 

Kenma had just received his ice cream- a scoop of rocky road- when Lev walked up to him. 

"Hey Kenma," He started. "Why do you have a flower in your hair?" 

Kenma felt heat rise to his cheek as he realized he'd never removed the red flower that Kuroo had placed behind his ear. 

Still though, he wouldn't let himself get embarrassed by Lev of all people. 

"Why don't _you_ have a flower in _your_ hair?" 

Lev just shrugged. "Fair enough." 

The group of teens moved to the edge of the boardwalk once they'd all gotten their ice cream and sat together. 

Hinata, Noya, and Kenma were sitting on the railing, the rest of them sat on the edge of the dock, kicking at the sand. 

"So," Hinata said to Kenma, "Did you have fun today?" 

Kenma smiled. "Yeah, I did." 

"Really?" 

"I normally don't like the beach, but this was actually a really good day." 

"I know, you told me you don't like the beach." Hinata replied. "But I thought this one would be okay." 

"It was. Good pick, Shouyou." 

"I'm happy you had fun, because this is _nothing_ compared to the rest of the week."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed! As always, comments and kudos are appreciated!


	3. Settling In and Amusement Parks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The crew starts settling into their cabin and they take a trip to an amusement park. 
> 
> Tanaka and Kageyama are given the responsibility of cooking dinner. 
> 
> Wow I kind of suck at summaries.

After their ice cream the group of volleyball players climbed back into the van and headed off to where they'd be staying. 

The drive was quieter this time, almost everyone decided to nap for the remainder of the trip. 

Suga was driving now, and while he couldn't be classed as reckless, he did play a little more loose with the rules of the road than Daichi.

Not by much, but enough that the car was hitting bumps a lot more noticeably than it had in the earlier drive. 

This little detail was exactly what led to their next problem. 

Hinata had gotten a slushie before leaving the beach and had only taken a few sips by the time they got back into the car, so his cup was practically full. 

He began playing video games as the drive resumed, although by himself this time because all of his previous competitors were sleeping. 

The story mode he was playing was harder than the multiplayer, which may be why Hinata wasn't as focused on the placing of his cup as he should have been. 

The back seats didn't have cup holders, so he opted to hold his cup between his legs.

This proved to be the _wrong_ choice, because he was paying too much attention to the game. 

Right as Hinata's fight was escalating, Suga hit a particularly deep pothole. 

Hinata had been tensing his upper body during the fight, preparing to hit buttons quickly, so when the car hit the pothole... 

"Aaah!" 

His yelp had startled Kageyama out of his sleep, and Daichi turned around from the passenger seat to see what had happened. 

Kageyama was the first, besides Hinata obviously, to realize what the redhead had done. 

"You dumbass." He said, eyeing the teen. 

"Shut up!" 

Hinata's slushie had spilled all over him, sending blue-colored ice all over his stomach, arms, and legs, not to mention the floor and the seat. 

"What happened?" Suga asked, glancing at the rearview mirror. 

"Hinata, seriously?" Daichi started. "How did you even manage that?" 

"I'm sorry!" Hinata exclaimed, picking up the cup. 

He handed his console to Kageyama and started to scoop the slush back into the cup, but it was starting to soak into the fabric of his shirt. 

"Can we stop so I can change clothes?" Hinata asked. 

Suga glanced at Daichi, who frowned.

They had a very quick whispered conversation before Daichi turned back around.

"We're almost there, Hinata." Daichi started. "I think it's gonna have to wait." 

"What?" Hinata said, still scooping ice into the cup. "It's all sticky and cold." 

When he didn't get a response from the front of the car, Hinata paused and looked up. "You're really not gonna stop?" 

"The only stop nearby would add an extra half hour to the ride." Suga said, though he did sound sympathetic.

"How far away are we?" 

"About an hour." Daichi replied. 

Hinata groaned. "So I have to sit for an hour like this?" 

"Look," Daichi said. "You can shower first when we get there, okay? We really don't have time to stop." 

"Fine." Hinata pouted. "But I'm not happy about it." 

When they finally arrived at the cabin they were renting, Hinata was eager to get out and head inside.

Of course, almost everyone found the time to make fun of him a little. 

"Hinata," Tanaka started, pulling his bag over his shoulder, "You're aware that the drink goes into your stomach through your mouth, right? It doesn't phase through you." 

"Shut up!" Hinata argued, grabbing his own bag. "I get to shower first! I'll make sure there's no hot water left for you!" 

"Say that again," Daichi interrupted, seeming to materialize out of nowhere, "And your 'going first' privileges will be revoked." 

"Sorry, sorry, sorry!" 

They'd made use of every penny they earned when choosing where to stay.

It was a big, two-floor wooden cabin. 

The living room had a large U-shaped couch, as well as a tv above a fireplace. 

The dining room was adjacent to the living room.

The kitchen was separated from the living room and dining room by a black-marble counter. 

Upstairs was the loft, which had five bedrooms and two bathrooms, all centered by a large, square sitting area. 

Only one of the bathrooms had a shower, so Hinata went first, as promised. 

Each teen took their turn afterward, and they all ended up on the couch after ordering dinner.

Noya turned on the tv, and of course he flicked through the channels until he found a volleyball game. 

This led to everyone being enthralled with the game and rowdy while they ate dinner, but eventually they actually settled down and started getting ready for bed. 

It was a little after eleven when everyone started heading upstairs. 

They'd paired off when choosing bedrooms- Kageyama and Hinata, Suga and Daichi, Lev and Yamamoto, Tanaka and Noya, and Kenma and Kuroo. 

Each bedroom had two wooden-frame queen size beds. 

Each bed had a fluffy comforter and an array of pillows, every individual bed having its own color scheme.

Every room also had a desk and chair in the corner, as well as a wooden dresser.

It was almost midnight when Hinata headed across the common area to Daichi and Suga's room. 

He knocked lightly on their door, and Daichi opened it.

"What's up, Hinata?" 

"So, this is weird." 

Hinata lifted up his shirt to reveal a rash spread all across his stomach. 

"Oh my God." Daichi started, beckoning Hinata into the room. "How long have you had that?" 

"I noticed it a little while after I got out of the shower." Hinata replied. 

Suga, who was reading a book in bed, reached down into his bag without getting up. 

"It's probably from the syrup in the slushie."

He ruffled around a bit before fishing out a tube of anti-itch cream. "This should help." 

Hinata raised an eyebrow. "You just happened to have this in your bag?" 

"With this group of people?" Suga started, "Give me a break, I have a whole ambulance in this bag." 

Hinata smiled. "Thanks."

Everyone was pretty worn out from the long car ride and the excitement of the previous day, so they all slept in later than normal the next morning. 

In fact, when Kageyama lazily strolled downstairs in his pajamas at nine thirty, Suga was the only other person awake. 

The older teen was also still in his pajamas, pulling pots and pans out of drawers and putting them on the kitchen counter. 

He smiled when he saw Kageyama. 

"Good morning." He greeted. 

"Morning." Kageyama said with a yawn. "Do you want help?" 

"If you don't mind." 

Kageyama moved into the kitchen to find a wide spread of food covering the majority of the counters. 

"Yeah," Suga started, "The amount of food we eat could probably feed a small army. Do you wanna start dicing up potatoes?" 

Kageyama nodded and washed his hands before grabbing a knife and peeling the potatoes. 

While he did that, Suga was mixing a large bowl of waffle batter. 

He'd just started cooking the bacon and sausage when Hinata, Noya, and Kenma came downstairs, all yawning and rubbing their eyes, _also_ still in pajamas. 

"Morning guys," Suga greeted, "Do you want to help cook?" 

Nishinoya and Hinata nodded, but Kenma hesitated. 

"I'm not too good in the kitchen." He said. 

"Don't worry," Suga replied. "Most of the hard stuff is done already."

Kenma, Nishinoya, and Hinata all washed their hands while Suga started to give out orders.

"Noya, start cutting up those peppers and toss them in the bowl with the batter for the omelettes. Kenma, grab a bowl and put in a few tubs of yogurt, and then the berries and other frozen fruit from the fridge. Hinata, you can help me make these waffles." 

Slowly, the rest of the teens made their way downstairs. 

Daichi joined them shortly after, having already been in the shower when the younger volleyball players woke up. 

Kuroo jumped in the shower next, and he, Tanaka, Yamamoto, and Lev all managed to get downstairs before breakfast was finished. 

The teens gathered around the table, talking about the day they had planned ahead while they ate.

"So," Lev started, "How far is it to the amusement park?"

"Not too far." Daichi replied. "Yomiuri is about forty five minutes away." 

"I can't wait." Noya said, refilling his glass with juice. "Yomiuri has some of the best rollercoasters in Japan!" 

"Yeah," Hinata added, "They go so fast that you feel like you're flying!" 

"Or on your way to an inevitable death." Kenma said, cutting his waffle. "Your choice." 

"Aw, you scared of rollercoasters Kenma?" Yamamoto teased. 

"I'm not scared. I just don't enjoy them." 

"You have to go on some rides Kenma." Hinata replied. "That's the best part!" 

"I think the best part will be the waterpark." Tanaka said. "Lifeguards round two, baby!"

Daichi rolled his eyes as he stood, having finished his breakfast. "We leave in an hour. If you're not in the van at eleven, I can't guarantee that you won't be left behind."

Precisely one hour and fifty two minutes later, the teens were walking into Yomiuri Amusement Park. 

It was about as crowded as you'd expect an amusement park to be, with an abundance of families, teenagers, and adults all out enjoying the beautiful day. 

There were conversations peppered over the chugging of the various coasters running, and the smells of popcorn, cotton candy, and soft pretzels were drifting through the air. 

The shine from the sun was brightening up the scene, and the colorful prizes that hung from the game-booths pulled everything together.

Because it was so warm out, the Karasuno/Nekoma kids agreed they'd hit the waterpark first, then the rollercoasters and games after lunch.

They immediately all dove into the pool and started splashing each other. 

Eventually a rematch game of Chicken broke out, this time with Nishinoya and Tanaka joining.

It only took one round before they got yelled at for being on each other's shoulders while so close to the edge of the pool. 

Finally deciding to call it a draw, especially since Nishinoya and Tanaka had won making the score one to one to one, Hinata shifted gears and challenged Kageyama to see who could hold their breath the longest. 

Tanaka, Noya, and Yamamoto joined in. 

"Ready," Hinata started, "Set... go!" 

They all plunged into the water, cheeks puffed out and eyes closed. 

Nishinoya was the first to come up after twenty eight seconds. 

Tanaka was next at thirty five seconds, and Yamamoto came up quickly after him at thirty eight seconds. 

Forty five seconds had passed and neither Kageyama or Hinata had surfaced yet. 

"Those two are too competitive." Tanaka commented. 

"I think they might actually die." Nishinoya said. "It's been almost a minute." 

The three other teens just looked down at the water, not able to see anything but orange and black locks swaying back and forth. 

A few more seconds passed before both Kageyama and Hinata burst out of the water. 

They came up coughing and gasping for air, but they wasted no time in bickering. 

"You came up before me!" 

"No you didn't! Noya, who came up first?" 

Nishinoya smirked. "You came up at the same time guys." 

"Fine!" Hinata started, already swimming to the other side of the pool. "Let's see who can do better flips into the deep end!" 

Kageyama stiffened. "No." 

"What?" Hinata stopped. "Why not?" 

"I wanna flip into the deep end!" Nishinoya exclaimed. "Come on!" 

All of the teens ended up in the deep end after that, most of them flipping into the water. 

Tanaka, Yamamoto, and Suga started off with backflips. 

Nishinoya got started doing full twists off the diving board.

Daichi and Kuroo followed suit with front flips as well as Lev, though his were less refined. 

Kenma and Hinata were doing full roundoff back handsprings into the pool, and Hinata was challenging Kageyama with every one. 

Kageyama was indifferent, wading near the walls of the pool. 

After doing another flip into the water, Suga swam over to him. "Not into flips?" 

Kageyama hesitated, but shook his head. 

"Why not?" 

Kageyama sighed. "I... I never learned how to flip, okay?"

"Oh." Suga started. "Do you want to?" 

"What?" 

"I can teach you." Suga replied. "If you want, I mean. It's not too hard." 

"Are you sure?" 

"Of course I'm sure. Come on." 

Suga spent the next half hour coaching Kageyama, teaching him how to do a front flip without hurting himself.

The other Karasuno boys noticed and started joining in, though when all the attention seemed to be bothering Kageyama, they shifted it and started teaching eachother the things they couldn't do. 

By the time Kageyama felt confident and was doing full front flips into the pool, Lev's flip had also been stabilized with help from Kuroo, Nishinoya had taught Tanaka how to do twists in the air, and Hinata had taught Noya how to round off. 

They'd been in the pool for just over an hour at this point, and it was Yamamoto who suggested they get out and start hitting the waterslides. 

They spent the next hour and a half zipping down all the different waterslides before deciding to stop for lunch.

After getting various types of gyros, fries, and cold drinks, it was time for the main event. 

The rollercoasters. 

"Come on, Kenma!" Hinata said, pulling on the taller boy's arm. 

Everyone else was already standing in line for the ride, a big red and yellow coaster. 

"I told you I don't want to." 

"But you can't come on a trip like this and not have any fun!" 

"Who said I'm not having fun?" 

Hinata continued tugging. "Please! This one doesn't even have any loops in it!" 

It was then that the rest of the team started to pipe up from the line. 

"Loosen up Kenma!" Yamamoto called. 

"Yeah," Noya added, "Live a little!" 

"It'll be fun!" Kuroo said. 

Kenma held his hands up in defeat. "Fine, but only because I don't want you dorks drawing any more attention to us." 

Hinata cheered as Kenma joined the line, and soon they were zipping off at high speeds. 

The volleyball players bounced from ride to ride, barely pausing to breath as they made their way from one line to the next. 

It was when they got to their first ride that went upside down that Suga opted out of riding. 

When Suga said he didn't want to ride, Kenma took that as his opportunity to stop riding. 

Daichi and Kuroo joined their setters and went off to play games, agreeing to meet back at the fountain in the center of the park in an hour.

Eventually the rest of the boys started playing games too, and they all ended up meeting back together at the fountain around four. 

Tanaka was holding a box of popcorn, and Suga, Kuroo, and Noya each held cotton candy.

Kenma held a stuffed tiger in his arms. 

"That was awesome!" Noya exclaimed. "I got like three girls' numbers!" 

It was then that Kageyama and Hinata walked up. 

Kageyama was pulling a wagon full of various prizes behind him, and Hinata had a large blue stuffed monkey wrapped around his shoulders. 

"Woah," Suga started, "Looks like you two cleaned up shop." 

"What'd you do, steal all the prizes?" Yamamoto asked. 

"This dumbass kept challenging me to stuff and losing." Kageyama explained. "And then we had to buy a wagon because he didn't want to carry everything." 

"Hey, I won half of these!" Hinata protested. "And you didn't want to carry anything either!" 

"You should just be glad I stopped you from trying to win that stupid beta fish." 

"I would've won it." 

"You don't have the equipment to take care of a fish right now! Beta fish need special tanks and filters! It would've died by tomorrow morning!" 

"So," Lev started, "What kind of prizes _did_ you win?" 

"You can take anything you want." Kageyama said, pushing the wagon towards him.

"You just can't have the monkey." Hinata replied. "I got it for Natsu." 

"Aw," Tanaka cooed playfully, "What a good big brother."

"We all ready to head back?" Daichi asked. 

When everyone nodded, the group started making their way back to the van.

"Okay guys," Daichi started when they got back to the cabin, "Tonight starts the dinner rotation." 

Kuroo frowned. "Are you sure it's a good idea to have these disasters in the kitchen?" 

Daichi chuckled. "Don't worry, every chaotic cook will have a calm, level-headed cook to control them." 

He looked down at his phone, which listed the pairings. "First up is Kageyama and Tanaka." 

"Great," Tanaka said. "It's only the second night and I'm already being put to work." 

"It's the luck of the draw." Daichi replied. "Have fun." 

Upstairs, Kenma had found himself in Hinata's room and the two were playing the Switch. 

"So," Hinata started, picking his character. "What's the verdict on day two?" 

"Today was alright." Kenma replied. "I'm not too big on amusement parks." 

"Well, you won a stuffed tiger." 

Kenma smirked as he started the game. "Actually, Kuroo won that for me." 

Hinata smiled. "Oh?" 

"He spent three hundred Yen trying to win it at one of those basketball games." 

Kenma chuckled, thinking back on the memory. "I told him he should stick to volleyball." 

"He's playing in college, right?" 

Kenma's smile faltered a bit. "Yeah. He leaves at the end of the summer." 

"It'll be weird next year." Hinata said. "All the third years are leaving." 

"Yeah, it's pretty sad-"

"But on the other hand, it just means I'm one step closer to being the ace!" 

Kenma smirked at that. "You really are a ball of optimism, aren't you?" 

"Just one of my many charms." 

They were called down for dinner forty five minutes later. 

"Dinner time!" Tanaka exclaimed, he and Kageyama armed with plates full of food. "Curry for everyone!" 

They started passing out the plates as everyone sat down. 

"Woah," Kuroo started. "This actually looks really good." 

Suga smiled. "Looks like the Tanaka-Tobio team was a success." 

Daichi turned to Kageyama. "I knew you'd keep a level head." 

Tanaka scoffed. "A level head? He almost set the kitchen on fire within the first five minutes! _I_ was the one keeping him in line." 

"Well you're the one who forgot to put water in the pot with the rice!" Kageyama argued.

"It still came out good though." Hinata said, taking a bite. "You should cook more often." 

"I don't think so." Tanaka said, sitting down with his own plate. "Not if you want the kitchen to stay standing."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Comments and Kudos are appreciated!


	4. The Tale of Fort Epic and Galaxy Defender

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A rainy day on vacation means blanket forts and a movie. Little do they know of the calm before the storm.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is pretty short but it was hard trying to find a good stopping point. Don’t worry though, the next chapter is long and full of feels.

"Why does this have to happen now of all times?" Hinata pouted, looking out the window.

"The weather is unpredictable, Hinata." Suga comforted. "These things happen." 

"But during our vacation? What did we do to deserve this?"

Nishinoya snickered and hopped onto the couch, grabbing the tv remote. "Relax, Hinata. We'll just chill inside for today. No big deal." 

It had been raining since early that morning. 

It wasn't _pouring_ out, but it was raining hard enough to discourage any outdoor activity. 

"But staying inside is _boring_." Hinata complained. 

"Hey," Daichi started, "Maybe we can go see a movie. We passed a theatre on the way up here." 

Hinata perked up at that. "The new Galaxy Defender movie just came out! Can we see that?" 

"Oh yeah!" Tanaka said, "I've been _dying_ to see it!" 

Kuroo chuckled. "You guys are such nerds." 

Despite the nerd comment, everyone seemed fairly excited to see Hinata's choice of movie. 

"There's a show at four." Suga reported. "Does that sound good?" 

There was murmur of agreement amongst the volleyball players. 

"But what do we do until then?" Hinata asked. 

"Well I have some emails I have to send to my college." Daichi said. "So if you need me, I'll be in my room." 

He headed up the stairs. 

"I have to email Admissions at my school." Kuroo added, also making his way up the stairs. 

One by one everyone had spread out to a different part of the house, leaving Nishinoya and Suga sitting on the couch and Hinata standing nearby. 

"I'm bored!" The redhead whined. "We still have like four hours until the movie!"

"Hey," Suga started, "I've got an idea!" 

Five minutes later, Hinata burst into his and Kageyama's room. 

Kageyama didn't say anything upon the initial entrance, but he raised an eyebrow once Hinata started stripping the blankets and pillows off of his bed. 

"What are you doing?" 

"Can I borrow your blankets?" 

"What? No!" 

Hinata pouted. "You're no fun." 

He then took off with his collection of blankets, leaving Kageyama dumbfounded. 

When he returned to the lounge, Suga and Nishinoya also had piles of blankets and pillows in their arms.

Suga smiled. "Let's get building." 

When Kenma walked downstairs an hour later, he was not expecting to see cushions and blankets covering the lounge. 

Pillows and sheets of all different colors had taken up the whole room, save for a small walkway in the back. 

"What is all this?" He said. 

Suddenly Hinata's head popped out from a gap in the blankets. "Oh, hey Kenma! Do you like our fort?" 

Kenma chuckled. "You built a blanket fort?" 

"It was Suga's idea." 

The silver-haired teen popped up through another gap. "Come join us!" 

Kenma raised an eyebrow. "How many of you are in there?" 

"Us two and and Noya." Hinata replied. "I tried to get Kageyama to come in too but he's being grumpy. Come on, and bring your dock for your Switch!" 

Kenma smiled and quickly went upstairs to grab the requested console. 

He climbed inside the fort with Switch in hand and realized that the build was structured around the tv. 

On the floor in front of the couch was a pile of cushions and pillows, making the space a perfect area to play video games. 

"Welcome to Fort Epic!" Hinata greeted. "Let's set up the game!" 

The console was set up quickly and within minutes Hinata, Kenma, Suga, and Nishinoya were all laying in a row selecting Mario Kart characters. 

They raced a tournament that ended with Kenma ultimately coming out on top. 

"You're too good at this!" Nishinoya complained. 

"I get a lot of practice." Kenma said with a smile.

He hadn't really thought about it before, but he liked Nishinoya. 

The libero was like Shouyou if he had an extra bag of sugar pumped into him. 

He certainly would draw too much attention if they were out in public together, but he was a nice kid.

"You should try drifting more." Kenma advised. "Cutting corners can save time."

Light suddenly flooded the fort as one of the blankets was pulled back. 

"Hey, what are you guys-"

Kuroo paused as all the teens glanced over their shoulders to look at him. "Oh, hey Kenma." 

Kenma waved. 

"What are you guys doing?" 

"Hanging out in Fort Epic until it's time for the movie!" Hinata said. "It was Suga's idea." 

Suga smiled. "I used to build a lot of forts as a kid." 

"Oh," Kuroo started, "Well have fun."

Everyone else who came across the fort had a similar reaction. 

The four teens inside the fort just continued playing video games, hosting tournaments through all of Kenma's games and even playing online at a few different points. 

It was at three that Daichi suggested they take the fort down so they wouldn't be late for the movie. 

"Shouyou, you keep taking us places where everyone is paying for themselves." Kenma complained when they got to the theatre. "I don't have any money with me." 

"I already told you, you don't pay on your surprise vacation." 

"But-"

"It's too late." Hinata interrupted. "I already bought your ticket, and you better get at least one snack too." 

Kenma frowned. "Why do you have to push me out of my comfort zone like this?" 

Hinata shrugged. "Because it's fun." 

At the concessions counter, the woman started recounting their order to be sure that everything was correct. 

"Okay," She started, "We have ten large popcorns, ten large drinks, three packs of sour Skittles, two plain M&Ms, one tray of nachos, one pack of Twizzlers, and two soft pretzels. Is that everything?" 

"Actually," Tanaka started, "Can I get another tray of nachos?" 

"Tanaka!" Daichi growled. 

"What? I'm a growing boy!"

Daichi turned to survey the group, his expression falling into a gentler one when he laid eyes on a certain blonde, the only one who hadn't gotten anything extra. "You sure you don't want anything else, Kenma?" 

"No," Kenma mumbled, "I'm okay."

Daichi nodded and turned back to the cashier with a smile. "That'll be all, thank you." 

"Your total is one thousand yen." 

Daichi handed over the money and began passing out food to everyone. 

"Okay, everyone gets popcorn and a cup, Tanaka had the nachos, Kageyama, Noya, and Yamamoto had sour Skittles, Hinata and Kuroo had M&Ms, Suga and I had pretzels, and Lev had the Twizzlers. We all good?" 

Nobody objected, so the teens headed over to the soda machines to fill their cups. 

Kageyama paused and watched Hinata fill his cup up with a blue slushie instead of a soda. 

"You're really gonna have another slushie after what happened with your last one?" 

"Slushies last longer." Hinata defended. 

"That doesn't even make sense." 

"Yes it does!" 

Suga walked over to the two. "You can't stop arguing for five seconds, can you?" 

"Well," Hinata started, "Maybe if he wasn't such a jerk all the time-"

"That settles it." Suga interrupted. "You two are not sitting near each other. You'll get us kicked out." 

"That's fine," Kageyama replied. "I don't want him trying to mooch off my Skittles anyway." 

Hinata still ended up finishing the rest of Kageyama's candy after the movie, but that's besides the point.


	5. Storming Emotions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The thunder and lightning outside isn’t the only storm that’s brewing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m really excited for you all to read this chapter, it’s a rollercoaster I’ll tell you that. 
> 
> I hope it’s in-character, and I hope you enjoy!

When the group exited the theatre the air was starting to get cold and the rain was coming down harder.

The square plaza they were in had various shops and kiosks, so they decided to spend some time exploring. 

The volleyball players spent a couple hours bouncing from shop to shop, sometimes stopping to pick up little trinkets or buy different kinds of collectibles.

Near the exit of the plaza was a small restaurant, so they bought takeout and headed back to the cabin.

By the time they got back, the rain had progressed into a full-out thunderstorm.

The dark clouds and rhythmic pattering of the rain, coupled with the grogginess that comes with watching a movie, left the teens in a very quiet mood. 

Even the chaotic quartet that was Nishinoya, Tanaka, Hinata, and Yamamoto had calmed down.

They ate their dinner practically in silence. 

It was Suga who finished his first, and he stood up and stretched. 

Glancing at his watch, he saw that it was nearing eleven.

"I don't know about you guys, but I'm going to bed." 

"I'm with you there." Nishinoya said. "It's been all gloomy and stuff today, it's wearing me out." 

The rest of the boys gave mumbled agreements and soon the cabin was quiet, everyone having retreated into their bedrooms. 

However, only a few of the teens would actually be going to sleep early that night. 

Daichi had opted to take a shower before going to bed and, save for the thunder and lightning, the room he shared with Suga was quiet and dark when he stepped inside. 

He winced as he turned the light on because Suga seemed to be asleep, but there really was no avoiding it. 

It was much too dark for him to try and get dressed without it. 

He glanced over at his bed as the light switched on, but Suga didn't even stir. 

The silver-haired teen was burrowed into his blankets, and even his head was covered up. 

Daichi got dressed as normal, and he was reaching out to turn the light back off when he heard a small "Daichi?" 

It was so quiet that he nearly missed it over the sound of the thunder. 

"Yeah?" He said skeptically, not sure if he'd imagined the sound. 

This time a clearer voice came from the other side of the room. "I'm gonna miss you guys." 

Daichi turned towards Suga in time to see the younger teen poke his head out from under his blankets. 

His eyes were rimmed red and his hair tousled, tears making their way down his cheeks.

Daichi immediately crossed the room and sat on the edge of Suga's bed. 

"Suga, what's wrong?"

Suga was still trying to hide in his blankets, but he kept the top of his head out. “This year is coming to an end so quick, ya know?" 

Daichi nodded but gave a small smile. “Yeah, it seems like only yesterday Kageyama and Hinata were knocking off the vice principal's toupee." 

"This is the best Karasuno has been in a long time." Suga lamented. "It felt like we were finally settling in and getting comfortable with where we are as a team. But now... it's over." 

The thunder seemed to fade to the background as Daichi placed a hand on Suga's shoulder. "The year might be over, but that doesn't mean what we've built here is ending. You know that." 

Suga sniffled. “I know, but...” 

"We're passing on what we know." Daichi continued. "That's what the third years do. And yeah, it's time for us to move on now, but that knowledge is resonating within all of the underclassmen. And next year, when it's time for Tanaka and Nishinoya to move on, they'll pass on what they know." 

Daichi paused. "Hopefully they'll just pass on volleyball skills and not their chaotic energy." 

That earned a wet laugh from Suga, so Daichi counted it as a win. "Besides, we'll all definitely still be friends, even well after the first years are in college."

Suga sniffled again. “You really think so?" 

"Of course. Just you wait, Hinata's kids will be calling you 'Uncle Suga' in no time." 

This time Suga smiled, and Daichi smiled back. 

He stood and held out a hand. "Come on, I think this calls for some Ice Cream Therapy." 

Suga wiped at his eyes and accepted the help up. 

“Thanks, Daichi." 

In the room next door, Hinata turned over in his bed _again_ as the thunder clapped outside. 

_How can anyone sleep through this?_ He thought. _It sounds like someone's throwing bombs out there._

The thunder struck again a few seconds later, this time with a bright flash of lightning, and Hinata pulled his pillow over his face with a groan.

"This sucks." He mumbled. "This absolutely sucks." 

If he had to guess he'd say it was about one in the morning, though he wasn't really sure. 

He'd been messing around on his phone for a few hours, hoping he'd just fall asleep naturally despite the thunder, but the drowsiness that he was waiting for never came. 

At around twelve thirty his phone had hit a critically low battery life and he'd been forced to leave it on the other side of the room so it could charge. 

Thus leaving him in the state of boredom he was in now. 

He pulled the pillow off of his face and turned over. 

On the other side of the room Kageyama was asleep, snoring softly.

Hinata took a moment to mentally curse Kageyama for being able to sleep through the storm when the thunder boomed again and he sighed.

Hinata pulled his blankets off and started making his way to the door.

He couldn't stay in that room any longer. 

Kageyama didn't know how long he'd been asleep. 

It certainly didn't feel like long enough- maybe three hours at most.

He wasn't quite sure what had woken him up.

Cracking his eyes open just slightly, he saw that it was still dark in the room, and therefore he still had time to sleep. 

He closed his eyes again, still not knowing what had woken him but not caring since he didn't have to get up yet. 

He briefly heard some shuffling coming from nearby him, but he ignored it.

It could have been a murderer, a ghost, or maybe just Hinata getting up to go to the bathroom. 

Regardless, whatever it was, it wasn't his problem.

His plan to go back to sleep would've gone well had it not been interrupted by the yelp that came from across the room.

"Ow!" 

Kageyama opened his eyes in time to see a certain redhead turn as he fell onto the floor. 

"Hinata, what the hell are you doing?" Kageyama asked angrily.

"Sorry!" Hinata replied. "I just... sorry!" 

Hinata stood and continued out of the room, hoping to leave the situation be, but Kageyama quickly stood and followed him out. 

"You better have a good reason for stepping on me at God-knows-what-time-it-is in the morning." 

"I was just-"

Suddenly there was another clap of thunder outside, which startled both boys, but for different reasons.

Kageyama jumped because he didn't know it had still been thundering. 

Looking up, he realized that Hinata was standing with his hands over his ears and his eyes shut. 

He smirked. "What, you scared of the thunder?" 

Hinata flinched where he stood as the thunder outside boomed loudly again, clearly trying to not put his hands over his ears again, and Kageyama was taken aback. 

He had just been joking with Hinata, but now... 

"You're... you're really scared, aren't you?"

"No!" Hinata argued, though his defense fell short. 

"Then why were you just standing here with your hands over your ears?" 

"Seriously, I'm not scared." Hinata said. "It's just..." 

His shoulders slumped. "It's loud." 

Kageyama quirked his head, confused. 

"I know that nothing is gonna happen," Hinata continued. "It's just thunder. But it's really, really loud thunder. I can't..." 

He sighed. "I can't sleep." 

"So where were you going?" 

"I don't know." Hinata rubbed the back of his neck. "I kind of just got up without really knowing what I was doing. Normally when this happens I..." 

He trailed off, realizing what he was about to say. 

"You what?" 

Hinata sighed again. "I go sleep with my mom, okay?" 

He was expecting Kageyama to laugh, but the older teen did no such thing. 

Despite this, he defended himself anyway. 

"Only when it's really bad, like this. And it hasn't been like this in years. Not since I was thirteen, I think." 

"So what?” Kageyama asked, “It's like, a sensory thing?" 

"Yeah, I guess so." 

This time Kageyama sighed. "You don't have to be embarrassed about that kind of stuff, you know." 

Hinata blushed. "I thought you'd laugh at me." 

"I'm not going to laugh at you for something you can't help, and neither will anyone else on the team." 

Kageyama paused.

"We _will_ laugh at you for all the other reasons you're a dumbass though, don't get me wrong."

"Shut up!" 

The jab seemed to put Hinata in a better mood, but he flinched when the thunder boomed again. 

"Come on." Kageyama said, turning back towards the room. 

Hinata hesitated. 

"What, you gonna go sleep in the bathroom or something?" Kageyama started. "Come on." 

Hinata followed Kageyama back into the room, and the raven-haired teen climbed back into his bed and patted the space next to him.

"What are you doing?" Hinata asked.

"You said you sleep with your mom when the thunder gets like this, right?" Kageyama replied. "So come on." 

Hinata hesitantly climbed into the bed and scooted himself as close to the edge as he could.

He lay stiff as a board staring at the ceiling, and Kageyama groaned at the anxiety that was practically radiating off of him. 

"Stop being such a dumbass and come here." 

He pulled the redhead closer to him. 

Hinata gasped at the sudden motion but he instantly relaxed into Kageyama's chest. 

The taller teen was warm and his chest was firm, but the material of his shirt was soft.

His breathing was slow and even, and the sound of his steady heartbeat was overpowering the sound of the thunder, at least in Hinata's mind.

His chest was moving rhythmically up and down... and... he smelled like... vanilla sugar... 

It was only a few seconds later when Kageyama glanced down and saw that Hinata's eyes were closed, and his previously quick breaths were now slow and even. 

Kageyama shook his head but shut his eyes and pulled Hinata a little closer.

Across the hall, Kenma was laying on his bed playing his Switch, his head resting on Kuroo's thigh.

Kuroo was occasionally glancing down at the game and offering some not-so-helpful advice. 

For example, as the character Kenma was controlling fell off the side of the map, Kuroo decided to chime in with "There's a cliff there."

"Yeah," Kenma started, exasperated, "I see that." 

Kuroo chuckled. "You might do better if you focused more on the main boss and less on the foot-soldier enemies." 

"Maybe I'd do better if I didn't have someone commentating on every move I make." 

"Oh, come on, you love it when I narrate your games." 

Kuroo paused and looked back down to the screen as Kenma's character respawned. "And he's off again folks, taking down one armed guard after the other! They're flocking towards him with amazing speeds but they're no match for the amazing Kenma! He's mowing them down one by one and... and... and he's over the cliff again!" 

Kenma reached up and punched Kuroo in the shoulder, though he was laughing. "You distracted me!" 

Kuroo was laughing too now. "I think this game just isn't your forte." 

They calmed down after a few moments, Kenma respawning his characte

Kuroo sighed. "Kenma?" 

"Yeah?" 

"Do you remember on the beach, when you said you want to go to the same college that I'm going to?" 

“Yeah.” 

"Promise me you'll look at other options." 

Kenma frowned. "What?"

"You can't throw away your future like that." 

Setting his Switch to the side, Kenma sat up and turned towards Kuroo. "Why do you keep saying that? I'm not throwing away my future." 

"I'm serious, you need to look everywhere and get into the best possible school you can." 

"But Kuroo-"

"No, Kenma! You can't just follow me everywhere because you're scared to be alone!" 

He said the words without thinking, and regretted them as soon as they came out of his mouth. 

Both Kuroo and Kenma were shocked, and for a moment all they could hear was the rain hitting the windows and the rolling thunder. 

It took Kuroo a second to find his voice. “Kenma-"

Kenma however, had no trouble. 

"Who said I'm scared to be alone?" He asked angrily.

"I- I didn't mean-"

"Is that the only reason you hang out with me? Because you think I'm scared of being alone?" 

Kenma was standing now, his face tinted red. 

"I don't need you to babysit me! I never asked for you to worm your way into my life!" 

Kuroo had been stumbling over his thoughts, trying to find something, _anything_ , to say, but that had caught him off guard. 

“ _Worm_ my way into your life?" 

"Yes, Kuroo! That's exactly what you did! You forced me to practice with you every chance you got from the day you moved in next door! I would have been perfectly happy sitting in my room playing games by myself." 

Kuroo’s temper flared and he grit his teeth. "Well I'm sorry that I wanted you to get outside and have a social life!" 

He stood, standing over Kenma. "You would've sat in that room until the day you graduated and never made a single friend. Is that what you want?" 

Kenma clenched his fists. “What I want is for you to leave me alone!" 

"Fine! I'll leave you alone. I'll leave you alone for the rest of this trip, and for the rest of the summer. I'm glad I'm leaving for college, because then I'll never have to see you again!" 

Kuroo made his way over to the door. 

"Oh wait, that won't happen, because you'll follow me around like a stray cat!" 

With that Kuroo stormed out, slamming the door behind him in time with the thunder. 

Kenma stood shell-shocked in the middle of the room, trembling. 

What was he supposed to do now?


	6. The Day of Angst

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The angst train has arrived at the station.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I definitely forgot to post this yesterday, but it’s a pretty long chapter and I hope that makes up for it. Hope you enjoy!

Kenma cried himself to sleep that night. 

Seconds after Kuroo slammed the door he collapsed into his bed, muffling painful sobs into his pillow. 

Kuroo never came back to the bedroom.

He stormed downstairs and moved to the couch, pulling out his phone just so he could focus on something. 

He could see Daichi and Suga in the kitchen, sharing a pint of chocolate ice cream. 

They were smiling and laughing, the same way Kenma and Kuroo had been not ten minutes before. 

God, he was so stupid.

Suga noticed the captain first and poked his head into the lounge. "Kuroo?" He started hesitantly. "Are you okay?" 

"I'm fine." 

Except he wasn't fine, he was upset and angry and hurt and flat-out confused. 

This whole thing started because Kenma had been mad at _him_ , and with good reason. 

Yet, he couldn't stand to think about the setter.

He hadn't meant to say what he said, so why did he feel this way? 

But Kenma had still fired back at him.

The blonde had completely disregarded their friendship and thrown away years of memories. 

Kuroo was absolutely fuming. 

Suga frowned at the response but headed back into the kitchen, telling Daichi that they should probably go to bed. 

The two third years headed upstairs, leaving Kuroo alone in the lounge. 

What a nice vacation. 

Kenma was still crying when he woke up the next morning.

He could feel the tears streaming down his face before he'd even opened his eyes, and his nose was still running.

It took him a few seconds to realize that someone was knocking on his door. 

"Kenma? Can I come in?" 

Kenma didn't respond, hoping that whoever was on the other side of the door would go away. 

Unfortunately for him, this particular teen would not give up that easy. 

Hinata opened the door slowly, his breath catching in his throat when he saw Kenma. 

The blonde looked outright distraught, his face flared red and wet with tears.

He was shielding himself with his blankets, curled up underneath them with his head barely poking out.

"Hey," Hinata said softly, stepping inside and closing the door behind him. "Are you okay?" 

Kenma, still laying down, closed his eyes and shook his head. 

"Suga told me that Kuroo came downstairs last night super angry." Hinata crept his way across the room, getting closer to Kenma's bed. "Did you two have a fight?" 

Kenma opened his eyes and took a breath. "I don't want to talk about it." 

Hinata had made it far enough into the room that he could sit down on the edge of Kenma's bed. "Okay, we don't have to talk about it right now. The plan for today is to go see a volleyball tournament about an hour away. It should last all day." 

Kenma sniffled. "I'm really not up for it, Shou." 

"I figured you wouldn't be. We're staying here, the others are going." 

"You should go too." 

Hinata shook his head. "Someone's gotta stay here and make sure you're okay." 

"I don't need a babysitter." 

"It's not babysitting. This is just a friend helping a friend." 

"Shouyou..." 

"Besides, they left twenty minutes ago."

It took a few minutes of coaxing, but Kenma allowed Hinata to lead him downstairs and into the kitchen. 

"You need to eat, okay?" Hinata started, handing the blonde a plate of food from breakfast.

Despite his earlier protests about not needing to be looked after, Kenma nodded and solemnly started taking small bites. 

He managed to finish a whole egg and half a slice of toast. 

Hinata also managed to get him to drink a whole glass of orange juice, which he commended himself for. 

"Do you want to play a video game?" Hinata asked. 

Kenma shook his head. 

"Okay, let's watch tv then." 

"Shouyou-"

"You can't just dwell on this all day, that won't make you feel any better." Hinata lectured. "So we're gonna do something to take your mind off it." 

He led the older teen out to the lounge and opened Netflix. 

There was a noticeable indent in the couch from where Kuroo had slept. 

Kenma pretended he didn't see it, but he sat as far away from it as he could.

Hinata sat right next to him, unknowingly creating a barrier, and turned on a lighthearted animated movie before they settled into a semi-comfortable silence.

By the time the movie was over Kenma's face wasn't red anymore, and he seemed to have stopped crying. 

Hinata counted that as a win. 

"Wanna watch another one?" He asked, grabbing the remote. "You can pick this time." 

"No, you pick." Kenma replied. 

The redhead didn't argue, he just typed in the name of another animated movie that he thought Kenma would enjoy and pressed play. 

As the opening logos came across the screen, Hinata couldn't help but turn towards Kenma. "So... what did you guys fight about?" 

Kenma didn't even glance his way. "I said I don't want to talk about it." 

"But holding it in isn't good for you." 

Kenma sighed and started picking at his fingers. "Kuroo thinks I'm scared of him leaving me." 

Hinata's eyebrows knit together. "You mean like, when he goes to college?" 

Kenma nodded. "He thinks I'm scared to be alone and that I can't handle myself." 

"What do you mean? You're literally the brain of Nekoma. The brain controls everything." 

"He says I follow him around like a little kid, but he's the one who's always coming to me." Kenma said, gritting his teeth. "Just because he pushed himself into my life doesn't mean I have to like it." 

Hinata frowned. "But you do like it." 

"No, I don't!" Kenma argued, his eyes starting to sting with tears again. "I hate it, okay? All I wanted to do is play my games, alone in my room. Then suddenly Kuroo moves in next door and drags me out to play volleyball and I'm supposed to enjoy it?" 

Kenma paused and took a deep breath. "I won't have Kuroo holding me on the team next year. Maybe I'll just quit." 

"You can't quit!" Hinata exclaimed. "If you quit I won't get to see you anymore." 

"You can text me." 

"That's not the point, Kenma." 

Hinata frowned. "You say you don't like playing volleyball, but that's not true. You don't do anything you don't like." 

"But Kuroo-"

"Kuroo gave you the push to get out there and start, but you stayed. From elementary school to high school, you stayed and you never quit." 

Hinata put a hand on Kenma's shoulder. "I've seen it in the way you play. How you analyze all of your opponents and work out all the different strategies in your head. I've even seen you smile a few times on the court. You _do_ like volleyball, stop lying to yourself." 

"Besides," Hinata continued, removing his hand. "This argument wasn't about volleyball." 

"Kuroo was my only friend for years." Kenma started, his breath hitching. "I've spent almost every day with him, and now he says that he's spent his life babysitting me. How could he say something like that?" 

"I'm sure it was just the heat of the moment-" 

Kenma shook his head. "He said it _before_ we started getting mad at each other. He just said it like... like it was nothing. Kuroo is everything to me, and now suddenly I'm nothing?" 

More tears were falling now, and Hinata pulled Kenma into a hug. 

The blonde started sobbing into Hinata's shoulder, his chest aching. 

"Everything will work out." Hinata comforted. 

"You don't know that." 

"Yes I do. I know that Kuroo cares as much about you as you do about him." 

Kenma squeezed his eyes shut tighter. "Not anymore." 

"Well if he didn't care, then why would he be so mad?" 

The rest of the day wasn't spent in much better spirits- Hinata spent a lot of it trying to distract Kenma with lighthearted cartoons. 

Like a lot of anxious people, Kenma had put up walls inside his mind to protect him.

They kept him from letting others’ words get to him, from putting too much of himself out into the world in fear of getting rejected, from trusting too much. 

Kenma saw trust as a rope that only a few people were given. 

The walls were hard to scale, and the rope could very easily become unraveled.

Kuroo was the first person who'd been able to get over those walls.

It'd taken a long time, but Kuroo had been the first person Kenma had truly trusted. 

He’d put in the effort and time to understand Kenma and his quirks, and Kenma appreciated that. 

It showed that he cared.

But last night, Kuroo had unraveled his rope. 

He’d fallen back down to the ground, back to square one.

The only way Kuroo could get back up the walls now is if Kenma gave him a new rope, but Kenma wasn’t so sure he wanted to give him another one.

Not yet anyway.

When the other members of the group strolled into the house later that evening, Kenma and Hinata were still on the couch. 

The blonde had tensed when he heard footsteps coming towards them. 

Everyone walking in was smiling and laughing, but things took on a much more serious tone once they spotted the two. 

Hinata, in an attempt to defuse the tension, twisted around on the couch. "Hey guys, how was the tournament?" 

"It was good." Suga replied, clearing his throat. "How are things here?" 

"We're okay for the most part." 

Kenma hesitantly glanced behind him, but was surprised to see that Kuroo wasn't among the group. 

At this realization, he turned around slightly.

Yamamoto gave a sympathetic smile. "Hey, Kenma. How you doing?" 

"-m okay, Tora." Kenma mumbled. "Where's...?" 

He didn't need to say the name for anyone to know who he was talking about. 

"He's not here?" Daichi asked with a frown.

Hinata shook his head. "He hasn't come back yet." 

This time, Kenma frowned. "What do you mean come back?" 

"He was gone when we all got up this morning." Hinata said.

"He texted me." Daichi added. "But all he said was that he wasn't coming with us to the tournament and that he'd be back tonight." 

"I can give him a call." Yamamoto suggested. "He might answer for me." 

"Just give him some space for now." Daichi replied. "We don't really know what's going on yet." 

Kuroo returned an hour later. 

The group had been sitting down and eating dinner when the captain appeared in the doorway. 

He kept his head down and didn't say a word, just went upstairs and slammed the door to his room. 

Hinata didn't miss the way Kenma flinched when the door was slammed, though it was safe to say that everyone had jumped a little.

"Do you want to sleep in my room tonight?" He asked.

Kenma glanced up. "Could I?" 

"Of course you can. Kageyama doesn't mind, right?" 

Kageyama looked over at them. "No, not at all."

Everyone had been given a basic rundown of the conflict at this point, though nobody had been given any details except for Hinata.

All they knew was Kuroo said something hurtful and Kenma was upset about it. 

After Daichi questioned why Kuroo was so angry if he'd been the one that started it, Kenma conceded and admitted that he'd said some hurtful words back. 

Still though, everyone seemed to be on Kenma's side. 

He just looked so lost and upset that it made it hard to go against him. 

Nobody liked seeing Kenma walk around like a kicked puppy. 

"Shou, are you sure?" Kenma asked, watching Hinata as the redhead fixed up his bed. "I can sleep on the floor-"

"No way." Hinata interrupted. "I invited you to this room, you sleep in my bed. It's fine, I promise." 

"But it's not fair to make you have to share with Kageyama." 

Hinata adjusted one last pillow before feeling satisfied enough to move and sit on Kageyama's bed. "It's totally fair." 

Kenma still looked skeptical. 

"Neither of us are bothered by it, trust me." Hinata continued. "I shared with him last night too." 

This caused the blonde to raise an eyebrow. "Why did you and Kageyama share a bed last night?" 

Hinata flushed red as he realized what he'd just admitted. "Uh... no reason, forget it." 

Kenma smirked. "Shou..." 

Hinata sighed. "I had an issue with the storm last night." 

"You're afraid of thunder?" 

"I'm not afraid of it." Hinata defended, rubbing the back of his neck. "The storm was really loud and I couldn't sleep, so Kageyama helped me out." 

Almost on cue, the raven-haired teen walked into the room. "Here's your bag." 

"Thanks." Kenma said sheepishly. "Kuroo didn't say anything, did he?" 

"He wasn't in there." 

"Oh, good." 

Kenma sat down on his bed for the night and started rifling through his bag. 

Hinata crossed the room, sitting down next to Kenma. "You're gonna have to talk to him eventually." 

"He said he would leave me alone for the rest of our lives." Kenma replied, fishing out his Switch. "I don't have to talk to him." 

"Kenma..." 

"Look, I don't want to see him." 

Kenma hesitated. "And he's mad at me anyway." 

"So what exactly _did_ you say to him?" Kageyama asked. 

"Kageyama!" Hinata ridiculed. 

"What?" The setter started. "Kuroo wouldn't be mad for no reason. I just want both sides of the story."

Hinata turned back to Kenma. "You didn't even really tell _me_ what you said." 

"I... I told him that I didn't ask for him to come into my life." Kenma mumbled. "And that I wanted him to leave me alone." 

"You don't mean that," Hinata started, "We already talked about this." 

"That doesn't change the fact that I said it." 

Hinata frowned and stood, making his way towards the door. "Something more has to be going on here. Kuroo's too mad for it to just be about that." 

"Where are you going?" 

"To get some answers." 

Hinata braced himself as he knocked on the door to Kuroo and Kenma's room. 

He received a growled, "What?" 

"Can I come in?" 

To his surprise the door actually opened, and Hinata stepped inside. 

"We need to talk." Hinata started, turning towards Kuroo. 

The older teen was scowling, but the vibe he was giving off wasn't exactly angry.

"I see he's taken his stuff." Kuroo said flatly. "Does that mean the divorce is final?" 

"He just doesn't feel comfortable sleeping in here tonight." Hinata replied. "But I didn't come here to talk about Kenma." 

Kuroo sat down on his bed. "Oh really?" 

Hinata nodded. "Can you tell me your side of the story?" 

"My side?" Kuroo started, heat lacing into his words. "The guy I've stuck my neck out for and defended my whole life said he wished he never met me. That's my side." 

"He didn't mean that." 

"Then why would he say it?" 

"You two were arguing." Hinata said. "People say things they don't mean when they're feeling intense emotions." 

Kuroo didn't respond, so Hinata took the chance to ask another question. 

"Why did you tell Kenma he follows you around like a little kid?" 

Kuroo visibly faltered at that, remorse creeping into his features. "It didn't come out how I wanted it to." 

"Well how did you want it to?" 

"I was trying to tell him that he needs to explore his options and go for what's best. He shouldn't settle just to stay with me." 

"He said that you think you've spent your life babysitting him." 

"I didn't say that." 

"He thinks you did." 

"Well I didn't." Kuroo said, the bite starting to race back into his tongue. "And I'm not going to sit here and try and defend myself to someone who's so obviously against me. So excuse me, but please get out of my room." 

Hinata frowned but left, not entirely pleased with the outcome of the conversation. 

This issue would never be resolved if Kuroo and Kenma didn't talk.


	7. The Lake Arc: Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The boys spend a day at the lake. Angst? No, no, none of that here. This is just a simple lake story.

Hinata woke up the next morning to find that Kageyama was using him as a teddy bear. 

The taller teen had his arms wrapped around Hinata's torso and their legs were intertwined, Hinata's head resting comfortably on Kageyama's chest. 

He hadn't opened his eyes yet, deciding to just take a moment to appreciate the comfort. 

It hadn't really hit him the first time they'd done it, but Hinata realized he quite liked sharing a bed with Kageyama. 

The raven-haired teen was like a personal heater, warming Hinata to the core. 

He could smell Kageyama's cologne, or body wash, he wasn't sure, and it reminded him of a bakery. 

The rhythm of his heartbeat was also very soothing, a steady, strong pulse that was already starting to lull Hinata back to sleep. 

He rolled over to face the other way, noting how he seemed to fit perfectly into Kageyama's arms. 

As he turned he caught sight of Kenma, who was sleeping peacefully in Hinata's bed.

The blonde had his arms hooked around one of the pillows and his head set on top of it. 

Hinata smirked. " _Looks like Kenma is a cuddler too_."

Carefully sliding out of Kageyama's arms, Hinata headed out of the room and to the bathroom. 

When he returned, Kenma was sitting up and stretching in bed. 

"Good morning." Hinata greeted through a yawn. 

Kenma returned the greeting. 

"How did you sleep?"

"Fine." 

Hinata smirked, taking in Kenma's sleepy smile and half-lidded eyes. "You look like you slept better than fine." 

Kenma just shrugged. "Your bed is comfy." 

He stood and walked out of the room, to the bathroom Hinata supposed, and he came back looking slightly more awake. 

"We're going to the lake today." Hinata said when Kenma rentered the room. 

"Okay, that sounds fine." 

"Will you be okay if Kuroo decides he wants to come too?" 

Kenma stiffened, but he responded without missing a beat. "He can do whatever he wants. I'm still not talking to him." 

Kuroo had decided to join everyone for breakfast, which made the meal more awkward than it should have been. 

He was quiet and stayed to himself the whole time, barely looking up from his bowl. 

Kenma sat on the opposite end, putting a barrier of as many people as he could between them. 

Luckily, Lev had been keeping him distracted with stupid commentary and pointless observations ("Yes Lev, your cereal does look like that one movie actor's face"), so he didn't pay much attention to the other side of the group. 

The rest of the morning was just as quiet, everyone packing backpacks and getting ready for the lake.

They left after having a quick lunch, and everyone piled into the car. 

Kuroo was seated in the back with Yamamoto. 

It only took ten minutes of driving for Yamamoto to break the uncomfortable silence between them. 

"Kuroo, are you okay, man?" 

"I'm fine." Kuroo replied sharply. 

"Look, I know you're mad at Kenma, but you shouldn't be mad at everyone else too. You're still on vacation, you should at least try and have a good time." 

Kuroo glared at Kenma, who at the moment was talking to Hinata. 

"How can I have a good time when everyone here is on Kenma's side?" He spat. "None of you even know what happened." 

"I'm on no-one's side." Yamamoto said, putting his hands up. "Whatever happened is between you and him. But people are going to keep avoiding you if you keep up this attitude, man. You gotta relax." 

Kuroo sighed. 

He was still upset with Kenma, but he was tired of being constantly angry. 

It was exhausting, and he wasn't sure he had the mental capacity to keep it up. 

He nodded and took a deep breath before looking back to Yamamoto. "So, how was the volleyball tournament?" 

Yamamoto happily chattered away about all the different teams they'd seen the day before for the rest of the drive, and by the time they'd made it to their destination Kuroo was feeling better, at least enough to tolerate Yamamoto and Lev. 

Much like the beach they'd been to, the lake was enclosed by greenery and hiking trails.

The blue water sparkled in the sunlight, a light wind causing small waves and spreading the pine-scent from the trees across the surface. 

They had parked near the south end of the lake, which was where most of the people were lounging. 

The area was grassy and flat with picnic areas and grills spread throughout it.

On the west side of the lake was what the locals had dubbed "The Village." 

The Village was home to various shops, clubs, restaurants, and bars, as well as a large boardwalk. 

The boardwalk overlooked the western side of the lake, and featured an aquarium, a mini golf course, and their ever popular amusement-park-like rides and games.

On the east side of the lake was the dock, where a bundle of boats, canoes, kayaks, and jet skis floated in the water. 

Behind the dock was the forest, where the aerial ropes course was operated.

"Time for swimming!" Nishinoya exclaimed, happily jumping out of the car. 

"How are you still so excited?" Kageyama asked. "We've been swimming almost every day." 

"Because it's summer, dummy!" Nishinoya replied. "You _have_ to swim all the time because you have no other chance to do it!"

They picked a spot to settle their stuff before everyone took off towards the water. 

It went about the same as the past few times they'd gone swimming, only this time Kenma and Kuroo stayed apart. 

Hinata had taken full responsibility of Kenma since the fight, trying to keep him distracted and comfortable. 

Yamamoto had started doing the same with Kuroo, hoping that the older would start acting like his old self again. 

They'd only been in the water for an hour or so when Hinata accidentally swam towards the dock. 

He, Suga, Kenma, and Daichi were all hanging out together, and the three followed Hinata over to it.

"Woah, jet skis!" Hinata exclaimed loudly. "Cool!" 

Up on the shore there was a booth labeled "Rentals." 

The woman inside the booth heard the exclamation and leaned out with a smile. "Hey guys, you want to rent some jet skis?" 

"Yes, yes, yes!" Hinata started, immediately climbing out of the water. "How much is it?" 

The woman frowned. "Oh, sorry sweetheart. You're not eighteen, are you?" 

Hinata immediately faltered. "No." 

"Sorry Hinata." Suga said with a chuckle.

"Do you want to rent a jet ski?" Daichi asked Suga. "It could be fun." 

Suga didn't hesiate. "Oh, hell yes." 

Together he and Daichi got out of the water and started filling out the paperwork. 

"That's not fair." Hinata pouted. 

The woman looked back at Hinata, her brow furrowed. "You're definitely over thirteen, right?" 

Hinata's jaw dropped for a moment, earning some snickers from everyone behind him. 

"I'm almost seventeen!" He shouted. 

After a moment he added a quieter, "Ma'am..." 

But the woman didn't seem at all upset by Hinata's outburst, and she smiled. 

"Since you're over thirteen you can rent out anything else here, and our parasailing and tubing drivers will be here at two." 

"What's parasailing?" 

"They strap you in a harness attached to a parachute, and then when the boat starts moving you go up in the air." Kenma explained, walking up next to Hinata.

"In the air? Awesome!" 

"You can fill out the paperwork now so you'll be all set when they get here." The woman suggested. 

"Yes please!" 

It only took a few minutes for Hinata to fill out everything, Daichi and Suga now putting on life jackets and picking out which jet ski they wanted. 

"Alright," the woman said. "You're all set! You can come back anytime between two and six." 

Hinata turned to Kenma. "Do you want to get back in the water?" 

Kenma shook his head. "Not really." 

"Hmm, okay. Let's go the aquarium then!" 

That wasn't exactly what Kenma had in mind, but Hinata had already grabbed his arm and was pulling him along. 

The aquarium was like one big pathway. 

They walked inside and were given admission wristbands, and then their journey started. 

The first room they entered was a blue-lit exhibit about freshwater fish, with soothing, bubbly music playing softly in the background.

The large tanks were curved and created a winded path around the room, with information boards placed every few feet. 

As they walked through the room Hinata kept pointing out different fish and spouting off whatever facts he knew about them. 

"-and that one is a red spotted goby! They like to stay in rocky areas." 

Kenma chuckled. "How do you know so much about fish? I thought you were a volleyball player." 

"Natsu got into this animated American movie when she was a toddler, and she's been really into sea-life since then." Hinata shrugged. "I must've read her like a dozen kid's books about it." 

He paused and pointed out another fish. "That's a crucian carp!" 

"I bet it's skills are sharp." Kenma muttered with a smirk. 

"What?" 

"Nothing." 

They continued walking, passing through rooms about coral, saltwater fish, sea turtles, seals, and otters. 

Not to say that Kenma wasn't having a good time, but the dim atmosphere and soothing music was starting to make him tired, and he began looking for opportunities to leave. 

"Shouyou, we should head back. We've been in here for an hour now." 

"There can't be that many rooms left!" Hinata whined. "Besides, it'll probably take longer for us to turn around than just keep walking through." 

Kenma sighed, because that was probably true. 

He looked up to realize that Hinata had stopped in front of him. 

"If you really want to, we can turn around." Hinata said, disappointment seeing into his tone. "I'm not gonna force you to do anything you don't want to do." 

Kenma sighed again. 

He didn't mean to sound like such a jerk all the time.

He was just... tired. 

Tired in general, yes. 

But also tired of worrying about the coming school year. Tired of the fight he and Kuroo were in. Tired of thinking so much.

The blonde walked up to Hinata and put a hand on his shoulder. "No, you're right. Let's keep going." 

"Are you sure?" 

"Definitely." Kenma said, moving to face Hinata. "We haven't even seen any sharks yet."

Hinata's eyes lit up at the mention of sharks, and a grin spread across his face. "Okay, let's go!" 

They walked through a few more rooms- shellfish, manta rays, and seahorses- before entering a dark, square room. 

"What exhibit is this?" Kenma asked with a frown. 

As they walked around the corner, it became clear. 

In the center of the room was a large cylinder tube stretching from the floor to the ceiling, glowing purple and filled with live jellyfish. 

Jutting out along all the walls of the room were three-tiered velvet seating. 

"Woah."

"Come on," Hinata started, "Let's sit." 

He and Kenma moved to one of the walls and sat down. 

They were the only ones in the room, and there was no music in this exhibit- just the light bubbling from the jellyfish.

After a moment, Hinata broke the silence. 

He kept his eyes fixed on the tank as he spoke. "Only two days left of our vacation. Seems like it's gone pretty quick, hasn't it?" 

Kenma also directed his focus on the jellyfish. "Yeah, I guess so." 

"School will be starting again soon," Hinata continued, "And then volleyball... I don't know if I'm ready for it." 

" _You're_ not ready for volleyball?" 

"I'm excited to play for sure, but it'll be weird without Suga, Daichi, and Asahi. And it is kind of nice to just take a break sometimes, you know?"

Kenma nodded, and there was a moment of silence before Hinata spoke again.

"So, you're really not gonna talk to Kuroo?" 

Kenma sighed. "I wouldn't know what to say. I'm mad at him, he's mad at me... it'll just turn into another fight." 

"But if you two never talk about it, you'll never fix it." 

"He could just as easily approach me first. Why does it have to be me?" 

"You have to take the initiative Kenma. You're just wasting time." Hinata turned to look at Kenma. "Kuroo will be gone soon. You don't want him to leave for college with you two in a fight, do you?" 

Kenma didn't say anything, but he knew his answer. 

Of course he didn't want Kuroo to leave with their relationship like this. 

But how could he even begin to resolve this now knowing what they both really think of each other? 

_But it's not what I really think_. 

It was then that a family had walked into the room with them, and Hinata stood. "Come on, let's keep moving." 

Turns out that the jellyfish was the last exhibit before the huge hundred thousand gallon shark tank, and soon Hinata and Kenma found themselves walking back out onto the boardwalk.

They'd barely made it out the door when they, quite literally, ran into Kageyama, Nishinoya, Tanaka, and Lev. 

"Do you ever watch where you're going?" Kageyama hissed at Hinata. 

"Shut up, Kageyama!" Hinata fired back. "It's bright out here!"

"So Kenma," Lev started, "Have you made up with Kuroo yet?" 

Hinata could see Kenma stiffen, but he kept his voice even. 

"Yes Lev," He responded sarcastically. "I made up with Kuroo by going to the aquarium with Shouyou." 

"That's great! Now things don't have to be awkward anymore!" 

Kenma shook his head. "You're an idiot." 

"We were just riding amusement park rides." Tanaka said. "But now we're gonna go do the aerial course." 

"I wanna go!" Hinata exclaimed. "Come on, Kenma!" 

"Actually Shou, I'm gonna go back down by our stuff for a little while." 

Hinata frowned. "Are you okay?" 

"I'm fine, I just want to sit by myself for a bit." 

Kenma made his way to the grassy shore of the lake where everyone had piled their stuff and sat down. 

Looking out into the water, he spotted Daichi and Suga happily riding a jet ski. 

He knew that Hinata, Kageyama, Nishinoya, Tanaka, and Lev were all heading towards the woods for the aerial course, but he couldn't see Yamamoto or Kuroo.

He sighed and pulled out his Switch. 

In all honestly, as long as Kuroo was away from him, Kenma didn't care what he was doing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if this chapter is a little short, I’ve been in a bit of a slump. I hope you enjoyed!
> 
> Also, bonus points to anyone who caught my Animal Crossing reference.


	8. The Lake Arc: Part 2 - Trouble In Paradise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things get a little... heated.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nobody is probably reading this but I just wanted to apologize for not posting. I was sick for the past couple weeks, thankfully it wasn’t Corona, but I really got knocked down. I’m better now though and I’m excited to be posting again. I think since I missed out on two weeks I’ll be posting another part this Thursday, so please enjoy!

Kenma had sat by himself for almost an hour before Hinata, Kageyama, Tanaka, Nishinoya, and Lev returned from the aerial course, at the same time Daichi and Suga were coming back from their jet ski ride.

"That was _so cool_!" Hinata exclaimed. "I wish there were courses like that in Miyagi!" 

"You almost fell like twenty times." Kageyama said. "If you did that every day you'd end up in a hospital with two broken arms."

Tanaka looked to Suga and Daichi. "How was jet skiing you guys?"

"It was great!" Suga replied, grabbing his towel.

"I'm starving." Nishinoya complained. "What time are we meeting up for dinner?" 

"Well, we could go now since most of us are here." Daichi said. "We'd just have to call Yamamoto... and..." 

He trailed off, and Kenma looked up to find that everyone was staring at him. 

He frowned. "Can you all stop that?" 

Everyone immediately averted their eyes, and Kenma groaned. "No, I mean acting awkward every time someone brings up Kuroo. We're not talking to each other, and that's it. He can do whatever he wants with whoever he wants." 

Daichi cleared his throat. "Okay then. I'll tell Yamamoto and Kuroo to meet us at the restaurant." 

They walked together to The Village where Kuroo and Yamamoto were waiting outside the restaurant. 

"Hey guys!" Lev greeted. "What have you been up to?" 

"Just walking around." Yamamoto replied. "We shopped a little bit... you know." 

There was a brief uncomfortable silence before they headed inside and to table.

Kuroo and Kenma sat at opposite ends, neither speaking a word except for when ordering.

Kenma frowned because despite his earlier rant, everyone was still slightly awkward whenever he and Kuroo were within a few feet of each other.

He couldn't blame them he supposed- a lot had happened in only a couple of days- but it was still annoying. 

Nobody should have to deal with his problems.

Thankfully Hinata, being the social butterfly that he is, managed to keep the middle of the table in conversation, stopping things from being _too_ uncomfortable.

It was when their food arrived that things started to take a turn for the worse. 

"There's only two days left of vacation." Daichi started. "It's gone by so quick." 

"We should do this every year!" Nishinoya exclaimed. 

"We could even do it a couple times a year just to stay in touch." Suga suggested. "In the winter we can go up to the mountains." 

Hinata gasped. "I've always wanted to go on vacation in the mountains! I wanna go snow tubing!" 

"I'm always down to go on vacation with you guys." Yamamoto said. "This has been fun." 

Lev snorted. "Yeah, minus all the crying and drama."

For a split second, things were silent. 

The weight of what Lev said crushed Kenma like a dumbbell and he nearly dropped his cup. 

His chest started to tighten and he definitely felt his eyes begin to sting.

"Lev," Yamamoto started, "What is wrong with you?" 

"That's not what I..." Lev said, starting to panic. "I didn't mean... Kenma-"

"No, you're right." Kenma mumbled, his voice cracking. "I'm sorry I ruined your vacation." 

With that he stood up and practically ran out of the restaurant, keeping his head down. 

This time, Yamamoto slapped Lev upside the head. "Seriously! _What_ is wrong with you?" 

"That's not what I meant!" Lev said, starting to stand up. "I should go find him."

"Don't." Suga advised. "Just give him some space for right now." 

Lev sighed but sat back down, burying his head in his hands. "I'm so stupid." 

"Yeah, you are." Yamamoto replied. 

Down the table, Daichi was frowning. "Kuroo?" 

Kuroo was looking down at his lap, just as Kenma had been moments before, his eyes glossy. 

"Kuroo?" Daichi said again. "Are you okay?"

Kuroo picked up his napkin and wiped his mouth. 

"I'm done too." He mumbled, before also standing and leaving. 

Things were quiet for another moment before Tanaka spoke up. 

"I don't know about you guys, but this is by far the most awkward dinner I've ever been to."

Kenma didn't know where he was walking to. 

He just wanted to put as much distance as he could between himself and that restaurant, so he was taking random turns through The Village roads.

Tears were stinging his eyes and his breath was coming out in huffs, and he was fairly sure that he would've been full on sobbing if he was still sitting with everyone else. 

He felt like he just hadn't stopped crying over the past three days. 

This was supposed to be a fun vacation, and he'd spent nearly half of it in tears.

He didn't want to come on this stupid trip in the first place. 

He'd been dragged along against his will, and not only did this vacation ruin his most precious friendship, he and said ex-best friend were now ruining it for everyone else. 

As he took his next turn he bumped into someone.

"Sorry." He mumbled. 

He shouldered someone else almost immediately. 

This new street he'd turned onto had too many people, and it quickly started to make him feel claustrophobic. 

In an effort to get some space Kenma found himself wandering into one of the larger buildings- a shopping center- and sitting down on a bench near the wall. 

He ducked his head and tried to slow his breathing down, but that only resorted in tears streaming down his cheeks. 

Messily wiping at his eyes, Kenma glanced up to look around him. 

If anyone had noticed he was crying they didn't say anything, everyone around him was happily bouncing from store to store.

The shopping center had three floors, each one with a clear glass railing. 

These clear glass railings are exactly what allowed Kenma to see what would be his saving grace. 

A game store. 

Video games calmed him down significantly, and if they had a setup for a new console then it could distract him for a good hour or two.

Kenma wiped at his eyes again and stood up, determined.

He would go to the store for an hour. 

Just for long enough for him to calm down.

He made his way over to the elevator and pressed the button, but when the doors opened, his heart stopped.

Kuroo was standing in the corner of the elevator, scrolling through his phone. 

Kenma stiffened but stepped inside. 

He shakily took a breath, trying to remind himself that this was the same as the past few days. 

He and Kuroo were just existing in the same area. 

Kenma pushed the button for the third floor, then stood in the opposite corner. 

The elevator started moving upwards and Kuroo groaned. 

"Of course the elevator would go to your floor first." 

Kenma didn't respond, but glanced at the elevator buttons and saw that there was a basement. 

That must've been where Kuroo was headed. 

The ride continued for only a moment. 

Just after they passed the second floor, the elevator shuddered, the gears groaned, and then it stopped. 

"What was that?" Kuroo asked. 

Kenma hesitated. "T-the elevator must've broken down." 

Kuroo frowned and moved to the panel of buttons, pressing the one labeled 'Emergency Call'.

Both teens looked up as a voice came over the speaker. 

"Greetings Village Mall patrons. If you're hearing this message then our elevator system has experienced a mechanical failure. Our engineers are working to remedy the situation and the issue should be resolved shortly."

"Great," Kuroo groaned. "That's just great. We could be stuck here for hours!" 

Kenma didn't say anything, just sat down in the corner he was standing in and pulled his knees to his chest. 

He was stuck, for an indefinite amount of time, with the one person he most definitely did not want to be stuck with.

This vacation just kept getting better and better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed this chapter, I’ll be posting the next one on Thursday. 
> 
> Comments and kudos are appreciated, and thank you for reading!


	9. The Lake Arc: Part 3 - The Ups and Downs of an Elevator

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is the most angsty elevator ride in history.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you all enjoy this chapter! I feel like these last two have been kinda short, but I feel like they’re worth it content-wise (at least I hope so). Thanks for reading!

They'd been stuck for forty minutes with no news. 

Kenma was still sitting with his knees tucked to his chest, and Kuroo was now pacing back and forth in the small space. 

The pacing was really driving Kenma's anxiety up the wall, but he didn't say anything. 

The six words he'd spoken when they first got stuck seemed like quite enough to him.

Kuroo, on the other hand, felt the need to keep talking out loud. 

"This is just perfect. All I wanted was to go on a fun vacation before college, and I end up stuck in an elevator."

"This is all Lev's fault. Him and his stupid mouth." 

He continued on like this for almost ten minutes before eventually saying something that made Kenma's skin crawl.

"None of this would've happened if you would've just listened to me, Kenma!"

Kenma remained quiet but looked up to see that Kuroo was standing over him now. 

He looked back down, trying to pretend that this wasn't happening, but Kuroo didn't allow it.

"You don't have anything to say?" 

"No." 

The next thing Kenma knew Kuroo had him pinned against the wall by his shoulders, high enough so that his feet weren't touching the ground.

His breath caught in his throat.

"What is wrong with you?" Kuroo growled. "You can't even give me the decency of responding? After all I've done for you?" 

"Kuroo..." Kenma whimpered.

"All I've done my whole life is stick my neck out for you! I've never asked for anything in return. Just this once. I'm asking you to just say _something_!" 

"K-Kuroo..." 

Kenma placed a hand on Kuroo's wrist, and for a moment they locked eyes. 

Kuroo's enraged eyes met Kenma's teary ones, and then he stopped. 

He completely stopped.

Shock washed across his face and he released his grip, stepping back in horror.

He pressed his hands to the sides of his head and pushed himself against the wall, trying to get as far from Kenma as he was able in the small space. "What am I doing? What am I doing? What am I _doing_?"

Kenma meanwhile, dropped to the floor on his hands and knees, trying to catch his breath. 

He couldn't tell if he was about to have a panic attack or cry. 

Possibly both. 

Kuroo never put his hands on him like that. 

Ever. 

In fact he'd never seen Kuroo do that to anyone else either.

So what did that mean? 

The sound of quick breaths pulled him out of his head, and Kenma hesitantly glanced across the elevator. 

Kuroo had curled in on himself in the corner, still mumbling.

His hands were in his hair now, twisting and pulling the black strands, and his body was trembling. 

Kenma hesitated, but it sounded like the older was on the verge of hyperventilating.

"Kuroo?"

"Don't." 

"Kuroo, you're gonna hurt yourself." 

"Don't come near me!"

Kenma hadn't even moved. 

"What am I doing?" Kuroo continued. "How could I do this? What's wrong with me?"

He let out a broken sob, and like a punch to the throat Kenma realized that Kuroo was crying.

Kenma was tired of it. 

Tired of being upset, tired of everyone looking at him, tired of not talking to Kuroo. 

He missed his friend. 

He crawled across the elevator and knelt next to the older teen. "Nothing's wrong with you."

"I just pinned you up against the wall and screamed at you." Kuroo replied without looking up.

"Yeah..." 

“I’m so stupid. How could I be so stupid?” 

For a moment, Kenma didn’t say anything. 

Well, what could he say?

He just wanted this whole thing to be over. 

This fight, this elevator ride, the whole damn vacation. 

It was in that moment that he remembered Hinata’s words from earlier in the day. 

_You have to take the initiative Kenma. You're just wasting time._

After reasoning that the ground couldn't open up and swallow him like he wanted it to, he settled for something only slightly less nerve-wracking.

"Kuroo..." He started, voice so quiet it was barely caught. "Why do you think I'm scared to be alone?"

Kuroo sighed. "I... I don't." 

"Then why did you say it?" 

Kuroo looked up, taking his hands away from his head. "Because it pisses me off that you won't even _think_ about looking at other schools. You have so _much_ potential Kenma. You could go to any school you want and do _anything_ you want to do. But you're set on one school just because I'm going there." 

Kenma frowned. 

Sure, he was smart, but his grades were average at best. 

He didn't put a lot of effort into school- high school was really more about passing, after all- but Kuroo really believed he could get in anywhere? 

_Anywhere?_

"I _have_ looked at other schools." Kenma said. "And I don't want to go to your school just because of you."

Kuroo scoffed. “Yeah, okay.”

"I'm serious. I've looked at the school a dozen times. I like the campus, I like the programs... you're kind of just a benefit." 

Just for a moment, Kenma saw a flash of mock-offense on Kuroo's face. 

It was quick, but it was there. 

His friend was still in there. 

“Kuroo I promise you that if I had a better option, somewhere that I thought would prepare me better for what I want to do, I would go there. You know that.”

Kuroo wiped at his eyes and nodded because yeah, Kenma would do that.

Kenma never settled. 

He always bought the deluxe version of games and consoles, picked the biggest slices of apple pie, wanted to get the warmest blankets. 

Who was Kuroo to think that for just once Kenma would settle, and for him of all people?

He looked at the blonde and wasn’t surprised to find that he was also crying. “I’m sorry.” 

“I’m sorry too.” Kenma conceded. “I shouldn’t have said you wormed your way into my life. Believe it or not I’m actually happier now than I’ve ever been.”

He paused for a moment. “Are you... are you happy too?” 

“Of course I’m happy.”

But Kenma wasn’t convinced.

"You were my only friend, Kuroo, for a long time. You really think of all of that as a babysitting job? Like community service?" 

Kuroo frowned. "I never said that." 

"You implied it."

"Kenma, if anything, you were the one babysitting me." 

Kenma looked up. "What?" 

"I was a lonely kid, even before I moved next door to you. Volleyball was the only reason I started to make friends. But Kenma, you're the only one who I really cared about, and I like to think you cared about me too.” 

Kuroo paused. “You do care about me, don’t you?”

“Of course I do.”

“Then come here.” 

Kuroo opened his arms and Kenma slid into them the way he’d done countless times before. 

Kuroo brought his hand up and started running his fingers through Kenma’s hair. “I’m so sorry.” 

“I am too.” 

Kenma pulled away and moved to lay down with his head in Kuroo’s lap, eyes closed.

Kuroo continued to play with Kenma’s hair, and he chuckled. “Hey, that was our first major fight.” 

“Our first?” Kenma groaned. “Does that mean there’s gonna be more?” 

“I think only one fight is a good record to have over ten years.” 

Kenma opened his eyes, looking up at Kuroo. “Can you let me know before we have our next fight so I can go stay with Shouyou?” 

“No way. Whatever we have to go through, I wanna do it together.” 

Kenma couldn’t help but laugh. “You’re such a dork.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> God I hope this was in-character enough. Please comment, I love to hear what you guys think!
> 
> Also sidenote, summer is quickly coming to an end so I’ll be updating more frequently because I really don’t want this fic to run into the school year. 
> 
> Sooooo next update will most likely be Saturday!


	10. The Lake Arc: Part 4 - Resolution

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finally we’re back to being happy and wholesome (mostly).

The two teens dozed off shortly after their resolution.

Kenma groaned as he felt his phone start buzzing in his pocket.

He didn't know how long he'd been asleep for, but he knew that he was annoyed.

Not realizing that he wasn't in bed, Kenma grabbed his phone from his pocket and answered with a groggy "Hello?"

"Kenma!" Hinata exclaimed. "Are you okay? It's been almost an hour! Suga said to give you space but I was worried." 

Kenma furrowed his eyebrows. "What?" 

"We finished dinner, and we wrapped up yours and Kuroo's food. Where are you? I can come by myself if you don't want anyone to see you, but please tell me where you are." 

That was when it all came back to him, and Kenma opened his eyes. 

They were still in the elevator, they still hadn't moved, and Kuroo was still asleep with his hand in Kenma's hair. 

Kenma sat up. "Me and Kuroo are stuck in an elevator." 

He could almost hear Hinata furrowing his eyebrows and cocking his head. "In an elevator?"

"Yeah, in the shopping center. We pushed the emergency button but I guess no one's come to fix it yet." 

"Don't worry Kenma, I'll come rescue you!" 

Hinata hung up and after relaying the information to the group, who were all standing nearby, he, Yamamoto, Lev, and Suga all made their way to the shopping center. 

Suga was the one who found the security office and explained the situation, and five minutes later everyone was gathered in front of the elevator doors. 

When the elevator returned to the first floor, Kuroo and Kenma stepped out, looking a little dazed but otherwise unharmed.

"We're here to save you!" Hinata exclaimed. "The security guy said it was probably just an engine failure and he went down to maintenance. But it's a good thing the elevator didn't fall and crash or else you would've died!"

"Actually they make them so they don't do that anymore." Yamamoto said. "There's breaks on them now."

Suga chuckled but looked earnestly at Kenma. "Are you guys okay?" 

"We're okay." Kenma answered. "We're great, actually." 

As the group started moving away from the elevator so others could use it, Kenma caught sight of Lev standing in the back, keeping his head down and wringing his hands together. 

"Lev?" 

"Kenma," Lev started, "I am so so so sorry, I didn't mean to say what I said. You didn't ruin our vacation, I wouldn't ever mean something like that, especially since you're my upperclassman and you're my friend and I wouldn't ever wanna hurt you-"

"Quit blubbering, Lev." Kuroo interrupted. "It's fine." 

Lev looked up, his eyes glossy. "Really?" 

"Yeah," Kenma replied with a nod. "Everything's cool now." 

"We should head back to the lake." Suga said. "They're getting ready to start the fireworks."

The sky was painted deep orange and yellow when they returned to the lakeshore. 

The sunset was reflected in the lake, giving the water an orange hue. 

The rest of the group, those who hadn't come on the rescue mission, had claimed a bonfire pit and were happily roasting marshmallows. 

A cool breeze had settled over the lake, so most of the teens were now wearing hoodies.

"Hey guys." Daichi greeted. "Everything okay?" 

"We're good." Hinata replied. 

Suga laughed. "I think he was talking to Kenma and Kuroo." 

"Well they're good too." Hinata said. "Are those marshmallows I see?" 

Everyone chuckled and headed over to the bonfire.

"So," Nishinoya started once everyone had settled. "Tanaka and I are having a debate. How do you take your marshmallows?" 

"Burnt." Kuroo said immediately. 

"See?" Tanaka replied loudly. "Kuroo agrees!" 

"How can you say that?" Nishinoya argued. "Why would you want to eat something that's burnt?" 

"It's not _really_ burnt." Kageyama weighed in. "The inside is all gooey and soft." 

"Yeah, they taste better that way!" Lev exclaimed.

Kenma made a face. "You're disgusting." 

"What kind do you like Kenma?" Hinata asked.

"I take my marshmallows golden." 

Kuroo smiled and started batting his eyelashes flirtatiously. "Like your eyes."

Kenma rolled his oh-so-golden eyes and pulled his marshmallow away from the fire. 

He inspected the color before rotating it and putting it back over the flames. 

"I don't think it matters." Hinata said. 

"Me either." Suga added. "All marshmallows are good, especially when they're stuffed between chocolate and graham crackers!" 

As he said this, he pulled a tray full of S'mores-Stuff from behind his back, and the group erupted in cheers.

"No way!" 

"Suga, you're the best!" 

"How did we not notice that?" 

Suga eyed everyone at that last one. "Because if you all knew I had a bag of candy bars they would've been gone before we even got out of the car." 

Tanaka shrugged and grabbed a Hershey bar from the tray. "Fair enough." 

The sun continued to go down as the group continued to talk and laugh, eating s'mores and waiting for the fireworks to begin. 

Kuroo stayed glued to Kenma's side, trying to make up for lost time it seemed.

At the moment they were sitting on the ground, the blonde between Kuroo's legs and leaning back against his chest.

"No way, the first movie is way better than the remake." Kenma argued.

"You're crazy." 

"Of course the remake has cooler graphics, but you can't compare those new actors to the originals."

Kuroo laughed and leaned down so his chin was resting on Kenma's shoulder. "I missed you these past few days. Is that weird?"

"No," Kenma replied, "Even though we've been in the same place, we haven't really been together." 

A light breeze came through and Kenma shivered. 

Kuroo didn't miss the way that the blonde tensed up, and he immediately was pulling off his hoodie. 

"Here." 

"It's okay," Kenma replied. "I'm fine." 

"You're cold." 

"But if you give me your hoodie than you'll be cold too." 

Kuroo shook his head. "Nah, I have enough muscle to keep me warm." 

Kenma pulled the hoodie on and leaned back again. "I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure it's fat that keeps you warm." 

Kuroo gasped. "Are you calling me fat?" 

"I'm calling you warm." 

"You're so mean to me." 

"You make it too easy." 

A few feet away, Daichi sat down next to Suga, who was observing the exchange. 

He nodded at the pair. "They seem to be in better spirits." 

"They've been that way since we got them out of the elevator." Suga replied. "I guess they used that time alone to work things out." 

"How did they even both end up in there anyway? They left at different times." 

Suga shrugged. "Maybe it's fate." 

"Some people are just meant to be together, I guess." 

It was at this moment that Kageyama and Hinata started arguing, and Hinata almost fell into the fire. 

"Hey, be careful!" Daichi barked. 

Suga chuckled. "I think those two were definitely meant to be." 

Kenma and Kuroo stayed wrapped around each other for the whole fireworks show, and they were practically joint at the hip the whole way back to the cabin. 

It wasn't until everyone was getting ready for bed that Hinata managed to catch Kenma by himself, downstairs on the couch. 

He sat down next to him. "Seems like you and Kuroo have patched things up." 

Kenma nodded. "We got stuck in that elevator and... talked things out." 

He wasn't necessarily lying, but he'd decided that there was no need for anyone besides himself and Kuroo to know what had happened in there. 

"Well that's good." Hinata replied. "I'm sorry about those couple of days that you lost though." 

Kenma frowned. "Why are you sorry?" 

Hinata was fiddling with his fingers now, and he refused to look at Kenma. "I'm the one that made you come here, so I'm the reason for your fight." 

"You had nothing to do with that, Shou." Kenma comforted. "Kuroo was having those thoughts way before we came here, and honestly I'm kind of grateful we fought." 

"Grateful? How can you be grateful?" 

"It's not good to leave things like that unsaid." Kenma explained. "And Kuroo might not have told me what he was thinking if we didn't end up alone on that beach." 

Kenma sighed. "Besides, we talked it out."

"So you guys are totally okay now?" 

"A hundred percent." 

"And you don't hate me?" 

"I could never hate you." 

Hinata looked up. "Never?"

Kenma smiled at him. "Never." 

Hinata smiled back and stood up. "Well I'm gonna head to bed, tomorrow's our last real day of vacation. You coming?" 

Kenma stood up too. "Yeah, it's been a long day."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed!


	11. The Final Day of Summer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The end!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It’s the final day of Summer, and it’s the final chapter of my Summer story. Thank you so so much for sticking with me. I hope you enjoyed, and don’t worry, I have some Fall and Winter ideas in the works!

Kenma rolled over in his bed the next morning with a content sigh. 

He'd ended up sharing his bed with Kuroo at the older's request, and honestly he didn't think he could have slept any better. 

Kuroo's arms were wrapped around him protectively. 

They were firm but comfortable, and he was warm. 

Given that it was summer it almost seemed that the heat would be uncomfortable, but to Kenma it was perfect. 

He sighed again, and then drifted back to sleep. 

"Hey, where's Kenma and Kuroo?" Yamamoto asked at breakfast.

"I haven't seen Kenma since last night." Hinata replied, pouring himself some juice. "Maybe he just wanted to sleep in." 

"At least he and Kuroo are on good terms now." Suga said. 

"Yeah, Kuroo doesn't get mad very often, but it's never pretty." Lev added. 

"I know it's none of my business," Tanaka started, "But Kenma doesn't seem like the type to get upset like that."

"Whatever they fought about, it had to be big." Nishinoya observed. 

"Whatever they fought about," Daichi growled, "Is nobody's business but theirs." 

"We shouldn't talk about it anymore." Hinata agreed. "But Kenma said they're totally okay now. So everything is fine."

At that moment, both Kenma and Kuroo padded down the stairs, still in pajamas. 

"Good morning!" Daichi greeted. "You two slept in today." 

Kuroo shrugged. 

"You better eat up, we have a big day ahead of us."

"Where exactly are we going today?" Nishinoya asked. 

"Well, since it's our last real day of vacation, we're spending it at the Summer Festival!" Hinata announced. 

The Summer Festival was a big event, a celebration of the season that consisted of street fairs, food trucks, kiosks, and performers. 

Once it got dark the Lantern-Walk would open, a peaceful stroll through the more rural areas of town. 

It was around two when our group of teens arrived at the festival.

The town was plastered with lights and colors, everyone strolling around with a smile on their face. 

"Oh, I am so going to get hopped up on sugar." Nishinoya declared. 

Hinata brightened. "Me too!" 

"The more sugar you eat, the harder you'll crash." Suga advised. 

"True, but the rush is totally worth it." Tanaka argued. "Let's get some kakigori!" 

Nobody objected to that, and within a few minutes everyone had a snow cone as they discussed what they would do first. 

"We should definitely make sure to visit the shrines." Daichi said before taking a bite of his kakigori. 

"And I promised my sister I would record some video of the taiko drum performance, but that's not until later." Tanaka added. 

"Look at those!" Lev exclaimed, pointing at an assortment of traditional masks hanging from a booth. "I want one!" 

With that he made his way over to the stand, not giving anyone a chance to argue.

"Okay," Suga chuckled. "Carnival games it is." 

They played games for a few hours, and everyone had won at least one prize by the time they had visited all the game booths. 

After games they visited the shrines, and once Tanaka had gotten his promised taiko drum recording they grabbed some food and discussed what to do next. 

Although now everyone was a little more hyper than before, and their conversation only lasted a few moments.

"Hey, that guy is juggling flaming knives!" Nishinoya exclaimed, his eyes practically sparkling with the sugar crystals from everything he'd consumed so far. 

He tugged excitedly on Tanaka's arm, starting to run in the direction of the performer. "Let's go watch!" 

"Okay, okay!" Tanaka laughed. 

"I'm coming too!" Yamamoto said. 

Suga started running after them in concern. "Guys, be careful!" 

"If one of them gets their head chopped off with a flaming knife, I'll kill them." Daichi growled. 

Hinata and Lev chuckled. 

"I want to go buy souvenirs for my family." Kageyama said. 

"Ooh, me too!" Hinata exclaimed. "My mom wants me to get her magnets!" 

Kenma raised an eyebrow. "Magnets?" 

"Yeah, I don't know why." Hinata shrugged. "I guess it's a mom thing."

"I should get something for my sister." Lev said. "I'll come along too." 

"I have to go do something real quick." Daichi replied. "I'll be back in a little while. Would you like to join me, Kuroo?" 

"Sure." Kuroo shrugged.

He looked to Kenma. “We’ll meet up in an hour or so, okay?”

Kenma nodded.

“Okay, let’s go!” Hinata exclaimed.

By the time they all met back up, Hinata, Lev, Kageyama, and Kenma all with shopping bags, and Nishinoya, Tanaka, Yamamoto, and Suga thankfully _without_ any cuts or burns, it was getting dark out. 

“The Lantern Walk will be starting soon.” Daichi said. “We should all go together.” 

Everyone agreed and they made their way over to the path. 

The trees were decorated with lanterns and candles, and bright flowers dotted the walkway. 

As they walked, Kenma approached Hinata. 

“Hey, Sbouyou?” 

“Yeah?” 

“I don’t think I really thanked you for inviting me here.” 

Hinata smiled. “You don’t have to thank me.”

“No, I do.” Kenma replied. “You planned this whole trip just so we could all spend time together. I don’t think anyone else would’ve been that thoughtful. So thank you.” 

“Sure thing. I think we should definitely do this again.” 

“But without all the crying and drama, right?” 

For a moment Hinata panicked, but when he looked up and saw the small smile on Kenma’s face that indicated he was joking, he relaxed. “Yeah.” 

With that they fell out of step from each other, and Kenma ended up next to Kuroo. 

“So,” The older started, “Did you enjoy your vacation?” 

“It wasn’t just my vacation.” 

“I’m pretty sure Shorty planned it for you.” 

Kenma smiled. “Yeah, I enjoyed it.”

“Good, because we won’t get to do another one of these for a while.” Kuroo said. 

Kenma had to hold back a frown. “Once you leave for college you’ll make new friends to go on vacation with.” 

Kuroo stopped walking, which made Kenma stop too. 

The older walked up to the blonde and put a hand on his shoulder. 

He took a moment to just look at Kenma- to appreciate how the lanterns reflected off his golden eyes and made his hair shine- before smiling down at him. 

He held out a hand to reveal a red flower, one he had plucked off the side of the path. 

Kuroo reached up and entwined the flower into Kenma’s hair, the same way he’d done all those days ago on the beach. “No one will ever be as good as you, Kenma."


End file.
